Magical Guardian Ranma
by Tangent
Summary: Having been found worthy of a higher perpose by the spirits of Jusenkyo, Ranma is now a Magical Guardian Beast destined to lead a team of Magical Girls. Gothic Horror Sex Comedy.
1. Prologue

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**PROLOGUE:**

Genma looked out across the sea from the railing of the ship that was taking him back to Japan. Another expense he hadn't planned on, but again the cost was much less due to Ranma's current state. When? When did things start going so terribly wrong? Was it at Jusenkyo?

The decision to find and train at Jusenkyo was definitely not one of Genma's better ideas, but the fact that the springs turned out to have real curses was more bad luck than anything else. Most of the training grounds Genma had taken Ranma to over the years had legends that were just that - legends with no current basis in reality other than historical curiosity. Even those whose legends were active had only amounted to a few interesting adventures and minor inconveniences at worst. Nothing a couple of martial artists couldn't handle when it came right down to it. The boy got to feel good about helping people out, and if Genma himself was enriched in any way, that was just a side benefit, right?

That the last cursed training ground on their planned route turned out to have the effect that it did was remarkably active was entirely unforeseen. Genma felt that he had really let Ranma down this time with his habit of just bulling ahead and damn the costs and advice. If only he had actually paid more attention to the guide, other than just enough to actually get to Jusenkyo...

The... incident... at Joketsuzoku was also a result of some poor decisions on his part. Eating the prize for the annual village tournament had not endeared him to any of the Chinese Amazons. Oh, they had spared him, for Ranma's sake if nothing else, but Genma was under no illusions that he held any respect in their eyes. About the only good they saw in him was his desire to find a cure for his son.

Leaving as he had, in the middle of the night with Ranma, wasn't likely to win over any of the Amazons either, but Genma couldn't allow the bonds that were forming between his son and Shampoo to strengthen! If Ranma was going to form ties with anyone, let it be one of the Tendo daughters! It would be a way to keep the pledge after all...

Perhaps the only way...

Tears of a father who deeply and truly regretted the actions that had cost his son so much poured unhindered down Genma's grief stricken face.

The Guide and the Amazons had called it an honor...

They had said that the Nyannichuan would have turned Ranma into a girl had Jusenkyo not found him worthy of a higher purpose...

DAMN THEM! A girl would have been much better than this!

Genma looked down at the sapphire lens clenched tightly in his fist.

"Don't worry Ranma... Surely one of the Tendo girls will be able to activate you and release you from your token..."

**END PROLOGUE**


	2. Chapter One

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER ONE:**

Before Genma disembarked from the ship at the port in Tokyo, he went to the souvenir shop to purchase a postcard. He was busily browsing through the card selection when the shop attendant wandered over.

"May I help you?" she asked politely. She had seen the man out and about occasionally on deck, and had at first thought of him as a scruffy ne'er-do-well in his well worn gi. He had been well behaved though, never bothering anybody, and he obviously had different gi to wear as it looked slightly different on different days. So she changed her presumption of him to that of his being one of those wandering martial artists - the kind that owned several copies of the same outfit just so they didn't have to think about what they wore.

Genma looked up at the younger woman who was now standing near him. Seeing that she was the shop attendant, he thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I suppose I could use some advice. I had planned on introducing my son to the daughters of an old friend of mine. Unfortunately, something happened, and now I have to show up with his token instead. Which card do you think a girl in her mid to late teens would like?"

Hearing this, and seeing the man's sad countenance, perhaps it was understandable that the shop attendant made a few more assumptions. How sad, she thought, his son must have gotten injured and can't travel for a while. This meeting must be very important for him to have left his son in China! For his father to do so while bringing a token must make this an engagement meeting, or a reasonable stand in for one! She should pick a nice card with subtle romantic tones to it!

Genma thought that the card looked too 'girly', but accepted the shop attendant's selection. Looking at a machine that turned photographs into stickers, he tallied his money and found that he had a suitable surplus. Fishing out a photo of Ranma prior to the incident at Jusenkyo, he soon had a sticker as well as a stamp for the postcard.

Not wanting to announce to half of Tokyo and Nerima just what had happened to his son, Genma decided to keep the message simple. So, with a short message and a stamp in place, the post card was mailed as Genma disembarked. That done, he called a taxi and went to a hotel in Nerima to rest for a couple of days until the date he mentioned on the card. He wanted to be presentable, especially since his son could not be so himself...

O O O

Soun looked down the table where his daughters were lined up sitting in there kimonos. Akane appeared to be less than happy with the whole arranged marriage issue, and Kasumi had expressed doubts about the apparent age of the boy depicted in the photo-sticker, but Nabiki seemed to have some hopes of finding Ranma to be acceptable.

The postcard that prompted this particular get together was placed on the table, and was still occasionally being examined by one or another of the Tendo sisters. Soun, of course, had memorized it's every detail during the prior two days:

_Tendo,_

_Something happened to Ranma in China. I am coming Saturday afternoon with his token. If one of your daughters can accept it, then Ranma is hers. Hopefully the situation with Ranma will change soon._

_With Regret, Genma Saotome._

Obviously Ranma had suffered some sort of training injury and was now in a hospital in China. That was a possible risk of training on the road like that. Still, it must not be too bad if Ranma was still sending a gift for one of his prospective fiancées.

With two days to digest the news, Akane wasn't nearly as upset as she had been when she first found out about the arrangement. Not that she was at all happy with her father for having made it, but the extra time allowed her to think some things through before she said too much that her stubborn pride would make difficult to take back with any grace.

She knew something of the injuries that a martial artist could get while training, and it had to be pretty bad if Ranma's father was leaving him back in China to make this visit. So, like it or not, this promise between families must bear the weight of a lot of giri to it. At least as far as the fathers were concerned.

So Akane had thought about it for the past two days. Which gave her time to notice that Nabiki seemed to be interested. As Akane's interest with boys near her own age had plummeted with the effect that Kuno's declaration that "anyone who wanted to date her must first defeat her", she was only too happy to encourage her sister's interests instead.

Thus, Ranma moved from unwanted potential fiancé to acceptable prospective brother-in-law. And she made damn sure that her family knew this too!

Kasumi too, was promoting Nabiki's interests in Ranma. He was really too young for her to be interested in herself, but he had a nice face and would surely mature into just the sort of husband her sister needed within a few years.

Like Akane, Kasumi had her own eye on Tofu as opposed to someone that their father had neglected to ever mention until the postcard had arrived. Unlike Akane though, she kept her interest discrete, even from her own family. She wasn't about to show open interest until the good doctor could behave himself around her.

Perhaps helping a relationship between Nabiki and this Ranma would help occupy her time until Kasumi's own hopes panned out one way or the other.

Nabiki, for her part, was actually looking forward to the meeting. Granted, Ranma himself wouldn't be there, but he was sending a gift of some sort. Very proper, and something that Kasumi approved of naturally, but in this day and age Nabiki simply respected the fact that he was bothering to send one at all.

The photo-sticker showed a boy near her own age who had a confident smile. Nabiki thought that she could get used to a smile like that. And he had those remarkable blue eyes, so rare among the Japanese, lending an exotic air to his appearance.

Maybe he was stuck in China due to an injury at the moment, but his father obviously thought that he'd get better. So it wasn't something that would leave a permanent liability. Once Ranma finally arrived, perhaps she could convince her father to take in students again with Ranma as an assistant. Money wasn't too bad now, but with the Tendo patriarch practically behaving as if he had retired with only Akane as a student, it wasn't too good either.

Accepting an engagement to Ranma was a possible way out of this potentially bad situation. It didn't hurt that he was easy on the eyes either. Maybe not the most handsome by any standard, but attractive enough. And well traveled to boot! She hoped that he got better soon though. If he was laid up too long, his skills would take a while to get back to wherever he had originally raised them to.

Then again, Nabiki thought, best not to count dividends until they mature. So no arranging for tournaments for him to enter until they knew he could make a good showing...

O O O

Genma chose to use a taxi again, as he still had enough money to spare and didn't want to lug both packs all the way from the hotel to the Tendo estate. He was, of course, happy to have missed the morning rain, having decided to wait at the hotel until it was closer to the time he had said he'd arrive.

Once he arrived though, it finally occurred to him that all of this free spending was cutting into money he could be using for expenses when he searched for a cure to Ranma's condition. Selling the token was out of the question. Being made of sapphire, it was too expensive for anyone to leave where he could easily steal it back from them. And even if he could manage it, such a scheme had a much higher potential of turning deadly on him than selling engagements of Ranma ever had.

Genma sighed at the memories that showed even more things for him to regret as a father. That and the fact that he was even considering selling Ranma's token showed him that he still had far to go if he really wanted to atone for the actions that had cost his son so much.

So very much...

Genma paid the cab driver as the taxi arrived at the front gate of the Tendo home and dojo. Fighting to maintain his composure, he gathered the packs, and turned to face an uncertain meeting...

O O O

"Daughters," Soun started formally, once Genma was inside and seated, "This is my good friend, Genma Saotome, Ranma's father. Genma, these are my three daughters, Kasumi (age nineteen), Nabiki (age seventeen), and Akane (age sixteen)..."

"..." Genma remained silent a moment longer, unable to find his voice now that the time had come. Just when everyone was beginning to wonder if he would actually say anything or not, he set a rounded blue disc on the table before the three daughters. "Here," his voice was gruff with the emotional strain he was under. "This is Ranma's Token. Whoever..." at which point, Genma broke off, unsure of how to explain the unbelievable.

By silent agreement, Nabiki was the one to pick up the token. It was certainly pretty enough, and didn't feel like it was made of plastic. In fact, she thought that it felt like stone. A shiver ran down her spine as she considered that it might be a real gemstone, blue corundum at a guess. The possibility that she was holding a real sapphire, and the fortune that it might represent, made her feel weak...

"What? Did Ranma send us a slimy gel packet?" Akane asked skeptically, noticing her sister's reaction. She reached over to grab the thing out of Nabiki's hand, which prompted the middle Tendo daughter to close her hand around it and draw it protectively in towards her bosom.

Which is when things really began to get freaky!

O O O

Light shined from the stone clutched in Nabiki's fist, a bright aura that cast the room in shades of blue. Nabiki's kimono, indeed, everything she had on at the time, down to the light make up she had on in order to provide a good impression, flowed into the sapphire lens as if it were all water.

"What the?" Exclaimed Akane, as she pulled back rapidly, having lost the right sleeve and a portion of the upper torso of her own kimono to the effect. Not to mention half her bra and her own make-up.

Nabiki, for her part, was speechless as she was lifted up and back. She uncurled from her seated position as she floated weightlessly, naked as the day she was born. Her hair shifted to a deep blue hue while her eys became a vibrant green. Then ribbons of water poured forth from the gem, slowly swirling around Nabiki's bare body. Several ribbons spiralled in on Nabiki's hands and feet forming snug gloves and boots, done in shades of blue, with black trim and reinforced with silver and stainless steel. As those were finishing up, several other ribbons began to paint a sleeveless halter top and bicycle shorts combo on her that left her midrif bare and fit like her own skin. There was a fitting in the steel and silver plate on the back of the right glove that seemed to be just the right size for the lens.

Curious, Nabiki's grip on the sapphire lens relaxed as she prepared to switch it to her left hand so she could see if it fit into the fixture. However, it popped out of her hand and flew into the setting on its own. Nabiki settled gently to the floor as gravity once again established it's hold on her, and one final thing came out of the lens and settled on the floor next to her.

It was small, about the size of a cat or rabbit, covered in blue fur, and looked kind of like a kangaroo rat.

"Um... Hi, I'm Ranma," it said. "Sorry 'bout this..."

**END CHAPTER ONE**

O O O

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _Pest Control..._

Curious, Nabiki's grip on the sapphire lens relaxed as she prepared to switch it to her left hand so she could see if it fit into the fixture. However, it popped out of her hand and flew into the setting on its own. Nabiki settled gently to the floor as gravity once again established it's hold on her, and one final thing came out of the lens and settled on the floor next to her.

It was small, about the size of a cat or rabbit, covered in blue fur, and looked kind of like a kangaroo rat.

"AHHHHH!" Akane screamed, "It's a rat! Kill it!" Which she promptly attempted to do with the table!

**_SPLAT!_**

"..." Soun was flabbergasted...

"..." Kasumi was speechless...

"..." Genma was shocked...

"Right," Nabiki muttered, "That's the fifth blue mouse-type we've gone through. Casting said that we wouldn't be getting another one after this until Akane had some therapy. Who's stupid idea was it to put her through the Nezumi-Ken anyway?"

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Genma asked nervously...


	3. Chapter Two

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER TWO:**

"Um... Hi, I'm Ranma," it said. "Sorry 'bout this..."

As this statement had been said by a blue furred animal about the size of a cat that bore a strong resemblance to a stylized kangaroo rat, there was much silence in response to it. Mostly because what had just happened was so far out of nearly everyone's experience, other than those of Genma Saotome, that they had a hard time believing that it had occurred after all. This, in the face of the magical rodent's continued existence on their table despite their natural inclination not to believe that it was there, left the Tendo family in a bit of a quandary.

"WAAAAH! Ranma! How could I have let this happen to my son?" Genma cried out in grief and self loathing as he burst forth a font of tears to rival any that Soun had been known for. In a way, this reassured the Tendo sisters that what was happening was real after all, however strange. Ranma, on the other hand (or paw, if you prefer) was looking at his father as if he had grown another head.

"Woah, Pop! Get a grip already!" Ranma looked at his father in worry. "Pop? Are you feeling well? You've lost weight since the last time I was out..."

"WAAAAH! My noble son is worried about my health despite what I did to him!" Genma cried out again, showing no signs of stopping his fountain of tears. Soun Tendo sweatdropped as he got an insight to how he must appear to others during his own tirades.

"NOW CUT THAT OUT!" Ranma snapped sharply. Surprisingly, Genma did seem to calm down at that. "Now, if you're done cryin' that river, could you tell me where we are? This ain't Joketsuzoku, Pop. The building style is all wrong, there are way too many modern features, and we were the only Japanese there anyway."

"We are back in Japan, Ranma," Genma explained. "In the Nerima ward, just outside of Tokyo, to be specific. This is my good friend Soun Tendo, and these are his daughters. One of them was to be your bride. If only..." Genma's voice grew halting and sorrowful yet again. "If only I had never taken you to that cursed place! Jusenkyo! Why have you taken my son from me! WAAAAH!"

Ranma cocked a furry little eyebrow at this. "Um... Could somebody run that by me again? It sounded like my Pop brought me over to meet some girls I'm supposed to marry, except that I can't while I'm in this form..."

"Oh dear," Kasumi responded softly. "I do believe that is actually the case, Ranma-san."

"Oh," Ranma responded flatly. "I see." And then the rather large mouse fainted.

O O O

Later, after calming down a panicked Genma who was frantic over Ranma's sudden collapse, and then getting the whole story from him, Soun had taken him out to the Dojo, where he could provide his old friend with a harder proof of comfort without having his daughters watch him get another man falling down drunk. Not that they hadn't had to deal with either him or some of his friends after they had gotten a little too celebratory before, but those had been happy occasions which lead to happy, if somewhat tipsy behavior.

Genma was far from happy, and would not be fit company for anyone, sober or drunk, so it was off to the Dojo, where anything that got broken could be easily fixed. Besides, with everything that was going wrong, Soun decided that he could use a few stiff drinks himself...

O O O

Back in the family room, the three Tendo sisters sat around the table looking at their unusual guest, who was currently curled up on some blankets set in a whicker basket that Kasumi had dug out of storage. Kasumi was still wearing the formal kimono that she had on before, and Nabiki stayed in the somewhat outrageous outfit that had been painted on her by the magical water effects that preceded Ranma's appearance. Akane, on the other hand...

"Akane, you might want to change into a different outfit." Kasumi pointed out helpfully. "I believe part of your kimono got caught in Nabiki's magical girl transformation."

"Yeah, Akane, you're kind of showing... Wait. Magical Girl Transformation?" Nabiki cocked an eyebrow at Kasumi as Akane 'eeped' and ran to her room to change.

"What else would you call it?" Kasumi asked. "Between the water effects and the fact that your hair is blue and your eyes turned green, I do believe that it is a safe call to make, all things considered."

Nabiki blinked and suddenly wished that she had a mirror handy to examine herself with. She was somewhat surprised when water flowed out of the sapphire in the silver and steel fittings on the back of her right hand, forming into a flat plane with a somewhat fancy border and handle, which suddenly froze solid. And then fell to the floor, shattering into ice chips.

"Really, Nabiki," Kasumi chided gently. "If you are going to use your magical girl powers to make things like a hand mirror, you should be ready to catch them before they break."

"I'll try to keep that in mind," Nabiki responded flatly, stunned at what had just occurred.

O O O

Far away, in a certain village in China, near Jusenkyo...

"Great Grandmother! Will you let me go after the fat panda that stole my Guardian Stone now? It has been two whole months!" Shan Pu whined, only to get bopped on the head by Khu Lon.

"Shan Pu! How many times do I have to tell you that Ranma's Guardian Stone belongs to nobody but Ranma!"

"But I could use it! Doesn't that mean that I've been chosen as a magical warrior? Doesn't that make Ranma my guardian beast?"

"Shan Pu, while being able to bring Ranma forth from his Guardian Stone is a sign that you have potential as a magical warrior, the fact remains that were Ranma truly yours, his father would not have been able to take him from you. Some other woman will become Ranma's chosen warrior."

"But who, Great Grandmother?" Shan Pu whined. "What Outsider woman can fight better than the Nichieju? Surely, if that was the case, Genma would have been caught by one of our warriors and another candidate would have been revealed!"

Khu Lon sighed, having had this argument with her great granddaughter many times before. "There are other types of strength that strength of arms or strength in martial arts, Shan Pu. Besides, your elemental affinity with Earth is but one of what may be six or eight elemental aspects that Ranma can potentially support, so Ranma is most likely charged with being the Guardian Beast of a group of Magical Warriors. Not, as you would like to believe, just one. But enough about this. The other candidates from the village have had their two months to track down and attempt to retrieve Ranma's Guardian Stone. The council and I agree that this can only mean that Ranma is destined to serve his duty as a Guardian Beast wherever it is that his father is taking him."

The Nichieju Elder closed her eyes for a moment as she continued. "Given that you have already activated Ranma's Guardian Stone and have been revealed to have an elemental affinity as an Earth Warrior, you should have no particular difficulties in tracking down Ranma's sapphire Token. With that in mind, we have finally agreed that you may go after Ranma and find out... Shan Pu?" Khu Lon addressed the now empty air, noting that the door to her home was only now just slamming shut. "Oh my. I do believe that she has jumped to an inconvenient conclusion. I had better warn the council of my upcoming prolonged absence."

**END CHAPTER TWO**

O O O

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _Not quite the battle Ranma thought he was destined for..._

"Get your's now! Prices as shown, or reasonable fees negotiable for custom work!" Nabiki yelled from her carnival stall.

"Um... Nabiki?" Ranma tried to get the attention of his excited ward.

"Beat the heat! Custom ice scuptures! Frozen treats! Made by magic before your very eyes!"

"Nabiki, I really think that I was given this form so that the girls I empowered could fight Youma, not make a profit..."

"Get your's today!"


	4. Chapter Three

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books.

**CHAPTER THREE:**

Ranma woke to find himself curled up in a whicker basket padded with some nice soft blankets. Which, while a nice surprise in and of itself, was less remarkable than the fact that he actually literally woke up. Shampoo never bothered to leave him out of his token long enough to get any regular sleep. Not that he really needed any as long as he was in the sapphire disc, as the two states were similar from his point of view. Other than the fact that in the physical world he could wake up on his own.

He hadn't realized how much he had missed little things like that. Granted, he had never been given much time to miss little things like that, what with Shampoo keeping him in his token most of the time, only bringing him out to show him off to her fellow villagers or at the requests of the Elders. Still, Shampoo was one of his charges now. As much as he may have resented the way she treated him, he was now a Guardian Beast and he knew that it was his duty to serve a magical champion.

Much to his embarrassment, he felt a tremendous amount of relief to find out that his "chosen" warrior didn't have to be the first one who activated his token. It might not even have to be the one his father had just found for him either, but he'd at least give the new girl a chance.

Shaking his head to clear it, the oversized blue kangaroo rat sat up and looked up at his latest charge.

O O O

Kasumi and Akane were looking on in awe as their sister experimented with what Kasumi had dubbed as her "Magical Girl Powers". Nabiki had formed a new ice mirror, a standing one large enough for all three sistes to be shown together this time. Elegant ice sculptures graced the family room here and there, along with the occasional weapon made entirely of ice. At the moment though, Nabiki was poking her hands into a large sphere of water she had called up, concentrating on keeping it floating like a bubble in the air while boiling the inside.

"Wow!" a high pitched voice exclaimed from the basket on the table. "You sure catch on fast! All Shampoo's done so far is move rocks and shake the ground a bit."

"Eeeep!" Nabiki's surprise manifested itself not in scalded hands, but instead with the sudden solidification of the boiling ball of water into a frozen globe of ice. A rather heavy globe at that, as Nabiki found out when it dragged her to the floor.

"Nabiki!" Akane cried out as she dove to intercept the ball lest it shatter and damage her sister's hands.

"Oh my!" Kasumi moved to wrap a towel around her sister's forearms and was about to get up to call for emergency services when she noticed something truly bizarre. "Oh!"

"**My hands!**" Nabiki screamed. "**What happened to my hands!?**"

For when Kasumi began wrapping up her forearms and the ball, the thin layer of frost had been brushed away, revealing crystal clear ice.

And nothing else, save for a solitary sapphire disc suspended in the ice about where the back of Nabiki's right hand should be...

O O O

Far far away, in a vast desert, a lonely figure in a hooded cloak walked with resolute determination. He was close. So close he could feel it! Soon, he would have his revenge!

Now if only he could find a lifeguard or somebody to help him find his way off of this beach. And what was with all the scorpions anyway?

O O O

"Calm down!" the high pitched voice commanded, drawing attention to itself. The three Tendo sisters looked over at the giant azure kangaroo rat, at which point Ranma continued. "Now, are you in any pain?"

"No," Nabiki considered. "I don't even feel cold or numb. Just weird."

"Okay then. I want you to just relax and think about having normal hands again. Can you do that for me?" Ranma asked.

"I think I can manage that..." Nabiki said, as much to assure herself as to answer the blue fuzzball.

"Your element is water, in all it's forms," Ranma stated clearly as the girl's hands gradually became visible once more. "Just remember, your elemental powers can never directly hurt you, even by accident. That iceball is yours. Tell it to let you go."

Nabiki thought about it. And, as easy as that, the globe of ice poofed into a cloud of snow, releasing her hands. "Um... Thanks. I really should have kept a level head just then. Might have saved myself some trouble."

"Hey, no problem," Ranma chided. "For someone who just got magical powers, I think you've adapted rather quickly! You should be proud of yourself!"

"And how many Magical Girls have turned their own hands into ice, hmm?" Nabiki asked, cocking an eyebrow at the fuzzy blue kangaroo rat.

"Beats me," Ranma admitted off handedly. "I've only encountered two so far, and both of those were because they had an elemental affinity of some sort and had managed to activate my token."

"I feel so assured," Nabiki responded dryly, leveling a flat gaze at her magical mascot.

"So any girl could become a magical girl as long as she can activate that blue disc?" Akane asked.

"Sort of," Ranma nodded. "I can only support so many elements at one time, and Earth and Water are already taken, so anyone else affiliated with either of them is out of luck."

"Nabiki?" Akane turned to her sister, eyes pleading for permission.

Nabiki extended her right hand...

Akane reached out to touch the gem...

And there was a raging inferno!

**END CHAPTER THREE**

O O O

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: **_Hidden costs_

"Nabiki?" Akane turned to her sister, eyes pleading for permission.

Nabiki extended her right hand...

Akane reached out to touch the gem...

**BEEP** "Please deposite two game tokens" **BEEP**

"Darn!" Akane muttered. "I knew I shouldn't have used them all up playing Sailor Io in all of those crossovers!"


	5. Chapter Four

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books.

**CHAPTER FOUR:**

Fire raged in the family room of the Tendo home, a blazing column of flame that consumed the clothes from Akane's floating form in an instant. Along with the table, part of the floor and ceiling, and most of Kasumi's kimono.

The fact that Kasumi was apparently uninjured was noted by Nabiki, although she wasn't sure whether that was because Akane's fire couldn't hurt her sisters, or because Kasumi was out in the yard, having been carried their by a now eight foot long (not counting the tufted tail), giant sabertooth kangaroo rat with blue fur.

Nabiki's own sensation was that of boiling. Not being boiled, or broiled, or even burned but literally boiling. From what she could see of herself, her body was now boiling water, somehow maintaining a human shape, with a sapphire suspended on the back of her right hand. Not uncomfortable, really, so much as kind of warm and ticklish.

"**AKANE! STOP!**" Nabiki yelled at her younger sister, who was barely visible through the pillar of flames. Abruptly, most of the flames vanished, leaving Akane to drop suddenly through the hole in the floor!

"Eep!" Akane landed awkwardly but unharmed on the somewhat charred ground below the Tendo house. Sitting up, she noted that she now had her own Magical Girl costume. It was very similar to Nabiki's, being what appeared to be biker shorts and a sleeveless halter that may as well have been painted on, with complimenting boots and gloves. Only in shades of orange with red, brass and copper trim.

"Cool!" Akane chirped happily, noting that there was even an unoccupied fitting in the brass plate on the back of her right hand.

"_NO_, Akane, _Hot_," Nabiki remarked sarcastically as she put out the remaining fires in the family room. "_so_ hot that you practically burned down the house!"

Akane looked around, noting to her chagrin the amount of damage her transformation had caused. Then she noticed Kasumi in the back yard, mostly naked and hanging tightly to the very large, very shaggy, and very dangerous looking blue furred saber-toothed kangaroo rat that was carrying her close to its chest...

O O O

Ranma, for his part, was starting to feel somewhat embarrassed. Mostly due to the state of Kasumi's attire (or rather, her current lack of same), but partly for not considering the possible side effects of the various elemental transformations. Granted, he had no way of knowing what Akane's elemental affiliation would have been ahead of time, nor had he actually seen Nabiki's transformation, or even Shampoo's for that matter. On one level, he was dead certain that none of the transformations were supposed to be that dangerous and out of control, but on another level he couldn't say why he was so sure that this was not normally the case.

Taking care not to look directly at the eldest Tendo sister's mostly bare body, Ranma tried to set Kasumi down carefully.

Except that Kasumi was having none of that! She continued to cling tightly to this large, furry (and not in the least bit on fire) guardian that had rescued her from being burned alive by her youngest sister. She had felt the heat of Akane's fire, painfully hot as her own kimono was rendered into ashes nearly instantaneously. A fate that Kasumi was sure to be her own until this wonderful beast grabbed her, taking the pain away and removing her from danger.

Kasumi began sobbing into Ranma's shaggy azure fur out of a feeling of shock and intense relief.

O O O

"_What_ are you doing to my sister?" Akane yelled at Ranma, amber eyes glowing with anger and long red hair swaying violently side to side as she approached the monster in her back yard. She'd take care of this youma and then...

Being grabbed by her shoulder from behind, spun around, and slapped by Nabiki was not part of Akane's planned sequence of events.

"Akane! Calm down right now! This very instant!" Nabiki commanded angrily.

"But..."

"I mean it! Ranma is not harming Kasumi at all! In fact, he got her the hell _out_ of danger! Danger _you_ put her in!" Nabiki pointed out, her voice practically dripping with venom.

"But, Nabiki... I only..." Akane tried to explain tearfully.

"But nothing, Akane! You nearly burn down the house, incinerate your own sisters, and now..."

"Enough!" Ranma interrupted Nabiki's angry tirade. "It was an accident. None of the transformations are supposed to cause this much incidental damage. Not even fire, not that I had any idea what her elemental affinity was going to be. This was just a stupid, scary accident, and nobody was actually hurt, so enough already!"

Nabiki shook her head, forcing herself to calm down and regain her own composure. Ranma was right, and she could see that she had been overreacting in much the same way that Akane had, although at a different target. "I'm sorry, Akane."

"Yeah..." Akane responded sheepishly. "Me too." Getting a better look at the scant remains of Kasumi's attire, she exclaimed, "Oh! Kasumi! I'm so sorry! I ruined your best kimono! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Kasumi began to calm down, not that she was letting go of the giant plush toy that had saved her, and sniffled a couple of times before responding to her sister's attention. "I'll... I'll be all right, Akane. I just had a bad scare. I'll be fine."

"Um..." Ranma started in halting embarrassment. "Can I put you down now?"

"..." Kasumi burried her face in the azure fur covering Ranma's chest.

"Well?" Ranma asked again, plaintively. Or as plaintively as an eight foot tall saber-toothed kangaroo rat with blue fur and sapphire eyes could.

"No."

Ranma would have joined Akane and Nabiki in their collective facefault had it not meant possibly injuring Kasumi in the process.

O O O

Elsewhere in Nerima, five boys wearing animal masks had once again roughed up one of their favorite victims not too long ago. Hikaru Gosenkugi was angry, depressed, and, well... mostly depressed really. It wasn't like anger ever did him much good. When it came to classic fight or flight responce, his adrenal system was every bit as pathetic as the rest of him, failing him when he needed it the most.

What he needed was a protector, someone strong, who was able to strike fear in others, and could back it up. And yet at the same time be caring and gentile. This was part of the reason he had fixated on Akane, who was normally such a sweet person, and yet was able to bull her way through thirty or forty boys at the start of every school day for the past month. Not that he thought about it in such an analytical fashion. He just felt a longing, nearly instinctive, need for Akane.

Now if only he could get up the courage to actually talk to her! Without thinking, Gosenkugi lashed out and punched a wall out of sheer frustration.

"**Ow!**" The frail boy examined his bloody knuckles and winced. His mother wasn't going to be too happy about this, and he wasn't too sure how his father would take it either. Or if he would even care about what happened to his son for that matter. What if it got infected?

Gosenkugi decided to rush the rest of the way home so he could get some antiseptic.

Which was fortunate for him because he missed the arrival of a gang of street toughs who would have been angry about how his bloody knuckles had ruined their stylized occult tag.

Unfortunately, for the wannabe gang bangers, they had gotten to their territory just in time to witness an arrival of another sort.

R'hul casually examined the pack of feral humans that had attempted to attack it, apparently out of some territorial urge. Not that the fight had lasted long, as they had proved to be young, undisciplined, and lacking in both will and power. At the moment it had them all paralyzed with fear.

Pathetic, really, because it wasn't even capable of projecting emotional attacks.

Still, its cursory inspection was giving it some clues as to why they might have retreated into the dark, gibbering recesses of their souls.

R'hul had two arms, two legs, a head with two eyes, all roughly where they should be for a human and certainly close enough to pass for human in a dark alley in the middle of the night.

However, as it was still early evening, there was still far too much light to effectively hide its less human features, like the sharp talons on its hands, and tentacles on its face. Many tentacles. Way too many tentacles, where the nose and mouth should be.

Tentacles that R'hul now extended from its 'beard' toward the unfortunate gang of boys.

R'hul had need of them.

**END CHAPTER FOUR**

O O O

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _I love R'hul! R'hul loves me!_

Gosenkugi decided to rush the rest of the way home so he could get some antiseptic.

Which was fortunate for him because he missed the arrival of a gang of street toughs who would have been angry about how his bloody knuckles had ruined their stylized occult tag.

Unfortunately, for the wannabe gangbangers, they had gotten to their territory just in time to witness an arival of another sort.

R'hul casually examined the pack of feral humans that had attempted to attack it, apparently out of some territorial urge. Not that the fight had lasted long, as they had proved to be young, undisciplined, and lacking in both will and power. At the moment it had them all paralysed with fear.

Pathetic, really, because it wasn't even capable of projecting emotional attacks.

Still, its cursory inspection was giving it some clues as to why they might have retreated into the dark, gibbering recesses of their souls.

R'hul had two arms, two legs, a head with two eyes, all roughly where they should be for a human and certainly close enough to pass for human in a dark alley in the middle of the night.

However, as it was still early evening, there was still far too much light to effectively hide its less human features, like the plush, mitten-like hands, plump body that looked like it was coated in purple and green fabric, long spongy tail, and large head that looked about as much like that of a T-Rex as a teddy bear resembled a grizzly.

"**AAAAAHHHHHH!** A _Barney_ Otoku! Run away! Run away!"

R'hul pondered over whether it should have tried a different form first...


	6. Chapter Five

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

R'hul had its minions, in the form of seven recently possessed feral humans. As it had surmised, these were young post adolescents, males at that, who were attempting to establish a 'territory' of their own. Part of which entailed painting 'tags' in various locations they wanted to claim. R'hul found this habit fortuitous, all the more so due to the lucky circumstance of their stumbling onto a viable occult symbol which they had already diligently spread here and there throughout the local human community.

That sort of thing really cut down on the pressure R'hul was under to establish a beachhead. No time needed to be wasted imprinting a suitable symbol into his minions feeble minds. Instead, he could simple tweek their own natural impulses and they would be compelled to leave their 'tag' in discrete locations as they went through the motions of their day to day lives.

But first, R'hul thought that it should do something about its infiltration form...

O O O

Nabiki sighed. "Akane, why don't you go check to see if our fathers are still mostly sober. I doubt they even noticed anything from all the way over in the Dojo."

"Right. I'll bring them back to the family room unless they're too far along, okay?" Akane wasn't looking forward to facing her father after causing so much damage to the house, but she figured that Nabiki had a point in getting the hystrionics over with.

"That's fine," Nabiki agreed. "In the meentime, I'll try to get Kasumi up to her room so she can get dressed."

"Lots of luck, Nabiki," Akane commented as she turned to head through the house towards the Dojo. "I don't think she wants to give up her giant cuddle-toy." As she left the family room and passed the kitchen, she muttered to herself. "Freaking scary looking cuddle-toy as big as a car..."

O O O

Kasumi ran her fingers through Ranma's soft, fluffy fur as he carried her the stairs to the second floor. He was following Nabiki to her room, where she supposed that she'd finally have to let him put her down. A shame really. In Ranma's arms she had felt safe and secure, protected from the pain and worries of the world. In his arms, she could be the little girl again, reliving her lost childhood when cute and cuddly plush toys could keep the closet monsters at bay. When a strong caring embrace ment that her parents loved her and were ready to to make the hurt go away.

Kasumi didn't need to be strong or responsible in Ranma's arms. For just these moments, snuggled in his azure fur, Kasumi could be the child she was before their mother died without feeling like she was letting her family down. She wanted to hold onto that feeling forever, but she knew that she had to let him go.

To _grow up_ again.

Still, perhaps she could get some material and make some plushies. She's have to see if Ranma would be willing to model for her.

Kasumi felt disapointment as Nabiki lead Ranma into her room all too soon. She sighed, but let Ranma set her down on her bed, at which time he reverted into his smaller state without the oversized canines.

Eye's twinkling and full of mischief, Kasumi grabbed the large blue kangaroo rat as he was about to hop off of her bed and cuddled him!

Nabiki's hair toinged out of place at the sight of her elder sister behavior, causing Kasumi to giggle as she hugged Ranma against her bosom. Ranma, for his part, squirmed for a moment, then realized what he was struggling against and fell limp.

"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed, finally holding Ranma's dazed form away from her chest as she looked at him with concern.

"Way to go, Sis," Nabiki chided as she poked Ranma. "I think you broke him."

O O O

Later, in the evening in the Tendo Household...

Genma brought in supper for everyone as they sat where they could. Even though it was only simple fare, he figured that Kasumi really needed a break from her duties after her scare, so he took it upon himself to do some camp cooking in their yard. While neither he nor Soun had really had time to get drunk, they had experienced a strong mutual catharsis before Akane had come to fetch them.

As Nabiki passed around bowls, plates, chopsticks, and serving utensils, Genma was pleased to note that Ranma was receiving a set of his own. Good, at least one of the Tendo daughters was treating Ranma as a person. He felt better for having decided to take his son's token from Shampoo.

"With two of your daughters able to activate Ranma's token, I feel that my son's place is indeed here, Tendo." Genma started.

"Yes, well... Be that as it may, Saotome, how will we ever join our two families?" Soun asked, glancing not so subtly at the hole in the family room floor. The fact that it was Akane who looked sheepish whenever he did so was not lost on him, but from what he had been told the whole incident was an accident. Perhaps it would be best to arrange for further potential accidents to occur outside, or even away from the property all together. Not that he wanted to put either his best friend or his son out.

"For the time being, Ranma will stay here and serve as your daughters' guardian. It cannot be coincidence that two of them can be empowered by him," Genma pointed out. "I will stay a few days while Ranma is settling down. In part to help repair the damage caused by this evening's accident, but mostly to go over some ideas with my son on how best to train your daughters in their new abilities.

"You're leaving, Pop?" Ranma asked, looking up from his food. The first food he had eaten since becoming a guardian beast at that. Adding to the novelty was the complete and utter lack of attempts on his fathers part to steal his food.

"I'm going on a journey to attempt to find a way for you to be restored to your human form, my son." Genma explained, voice heavy with conviction. "You may have been called to serve a higher duty, but I fail to see why the kami have decided that you must do so as a guardian beast. I want you to be restored to yourself as soon as possible, so I am planning a pilgramage to every shrine and temple I can find to both pray for your restoration and to try to find out what must be done for it to happen."

"Pop..." Ranma didn't know what to say. This was a side of his father he had hardly ever seen while growing up.

"I'll try to visit as often as I can, Ranma, so please do not feel that I'm abandoning you in any way," Genma went on. "You have been called to Duty, my son, and I will not stand in the way of your being able to carry it out. Instead, I plan to discover what it takes to speed you surely through whatever destiny the kami have laid out for you so that you can get your own life back in as short a time as possible."

"Pop..." Ranma tried to interject, only to be interupted as his father chose to go on.

"Please, Ranma... My son," Genma spoke with heavy solemnity. "Please forgive a father for his foibles. Please forgive me for taking your life away from you and causing this heavy burden to be placed on your shoulders. I know I haven't always been the best father I could have been. I have often been short sighted, and too many times have I let petty greed put you or your honor at risk. I need to do this, my son. I need to try as hard as I can to restore you to yourself, so that I may in some small way attone for my actions that lead to this situation."

Everyone looked at Genma and thought deeply on what the elder Saotome had said.

Nabiki was reminded that there was a purpose behind her transformation. That there was a danger that she had been called on to help defeat. One that could prove to be deadly serious. She wondered why she only felt a little trepedition at the prospect of facing youma and other monsters.

Akane came to realise that becoming a Magical Girl wasn't all fun, games, and beating up the youma of the week. There were costs to this business she had so carelessly entered. The Saotome's were paying a very big cost indeed, and one that neither had ever sought to pay. Costs that she herself had paid in the form of accidental damage to her home. Akane resolved to listen to her new sensei, and to try to master her seemingly wild and undisciplined powers.

Kasumi resolved to make Ranma's stay in their home as comfortable as possible. Maybe later she'd even gather the nerve to touch his token as well, but it was much too soon for that. She certainly didn't feel ready to answer any such call to duty, Magical Girl or otherwise.

Soun was weeping openly at the tragedy of it all, but had yet to break out into a sorrowful tirade of his own. How long that would last was anybodies guess.

Ranma stared intently at his father, appearing to think deeply on all that Genma had just said. After a moment, the large blue kangaroo rat seemed to come to a conclusion. "Alright. Who are you and what did you do with my Pop?"

Facefaults abounded! Moments later, Genma sat back up and yelled,"**Ranma!** How _dare_ you treat a solemn moment like this so trivially?"

"Okay! Okay! Sheesh! Lighten up, Pop!" Ranma equivocated sheepishly. "I forgive you already!"

O O O

R'hul examined its current domecile, the home of the feral humans' pack alpha. Surprisingly the young adult had still been living with his parents, but they were easily taken care of. Nothing permanent yet, as they might still be needed to maintain his cover. Just a couple of temporary transformations to keep them causing problems over the short term. Both were now boneless blobs of flesh, homogenous and self contained, without any external features save for their skin. Capable of remembering what they were and thus quite able to radiate satisfactory amounts of terror.

Good furniture was so hard to find, and seats that could supply a fresh sense of personal horror were even more difficult to come by back home. These two would simply have to be taken back to its estate once their purpose here had been served.

Sitting on the female flesh-bag, with its feet propped up on the male, R'hul directed its minion to activate the story viewing device. It had found out about it from going through the memories of the feral human and his family, and had made some other interesting discoveries.

Humans had come to catalogue their darker natures, displaying their fears and perversions in visable records for all to see. Truly an excellent guide for the conisior of the soul.

At the moment, R'hul chose to start with something from the father's collection, by the auspiscious title of "The Amityville Horror," to be followed by "Alien" and then "Godzilla." Later, it would move on to the tastes of its minion and see what "Legend of the Overfiend" was about.

All in all, with its minions dutifully spreading their 'tag' hither and yon, R'hul decided to kick back and enjoy some quality lesure time for a day or two before making any big moves. Vacation time was another thing that was hard to come by these days...

O O O

Late in the evening, Nabiki decided that she had had enough for one day and had gone up to get ready for bed. Hooking a finger under her left glove, she pulled it off and tossed it to the floor where it landed with a splash. Nabiki stared at the puddle of water on her floor, being particularly surprised because she had at least subconsciously expecting a thump from the silver and steel plates. Except that the only silver and steel pieces were on the remaining articles of her costume.

Curious, she turned her attention to the rest of her outfit, examining it with more scrutiny than before. The boots, which reached halfway up her calves, looked as painted on as the rest of her outfit other than the thick sole, the steel toe and heel sections and a rectangular plate on top of each of her feet. Her remaining glove, which had the fitting for Ranma's sapphire token on a silver and steel plate on the back of the hand, had another plate that ran along the top of her forearm like a bracer and was held in place with silver bands. Nabiki ran the fingers of her left hand along the plate and then froze.

While her fingers felt the steel plates and silver trim, both of which feeling as hard and rigid to her caressing fingers as she would have expected, her arm felt the gentile touch as if it were directly skin to skin. Holding her right hand close to her face, Nabiki looked at what appeared to be a glove that fit over her palm and fingers like a second skin, only without prints or nails, but felt like bare skin to the touch. With sudden realization, she then examined her halter top...

Nabiki was not particularly surprised to discover that her halter top also felt like bare skin to her hands. Cupping her breasts in her hands, which certainly felt like direct skin to skin contact to Nabiki, she raised them to her face, which was bent forward as far as her neck would allow. From this close perspective she could compare her glove, which definitely looked like smooth material to her eyes, to her halter, which looked equally smooth. However, whatever the material that appeared to be covering her was, it fit so flush and contour perfect to her skin that she could even easily tell where her nipples where.

A quick thought made her check the groin area of her shorts, but Nabiki was relieved to note that whatever made the rest of the strange material follow her bodies contours so closely everywhere else fit that area like a leotard instead. Like a second skin, yes, but without following that particular topological fold. And yet, despite the appearance of being covered, her probing hands felt only smooth bare skin there as well.

The hems that she could see directly were almost all set flush against her skin, with the exception or her remaining glove, which was hemmed with a silver hoop. Moving a hand to her waistband, she tried to hook a finger under the 'hem' was, and was moderately startled when she could do exactly that. She tugged the 'fabric' away from her skin, noting that it came away like latex, and felt like silk, but looked for all the world like she was pulling the color right out of her skin rather than from on top of it. Letting go of the hem, Nabiki watched it snap back into place and merge with her skin once more.

She hadn't even felt anything.

Well, this was not totally accurate, as she could feel the material with her hands, even if only while she was pulling it away from her body. It felt stretchy and pliable, was translucent when separated from her skin, and was smooth to her touch. And yet, despite the tension she put on the waistline by pulling the hem away from her hips, she felt nothing at all when she released it, and touching the area revealed nothing but the feel of bare skin except when she deliberately tried to grab a hem.

Not being able to trust her sense of touch with this visually opaque but tactilely transparent material, Nabiki walked over to use the mirror of her vanity bureau to use the mirror mounted on the back of it. She could tell at a glance that her bosom jiggled and bounced with her every movement, completely unrestricted in any way. Turning around, she looked over her shoulder and checked to see if her rear cleavage was modest like the groin, or contour perfect like her breasts.

Okay, so she had a perfect wedgie that she couldn't feel.

Oddly, Nabiki didn't feel even the slightest bit of embarrassment over the matter, although it did seem strange that neither Akane, Kasumi, not her own father had said anything about it. Thinking back on it, she was pretty sure that Akane's costume fit pretty much the same way too...

Hearing a panicked commotion from Akane's room, Nabiki was certain that her younger sister had just made a similar discovery of her own. Wandering over, Nabiki was slightly disappointed that Akane had already managed to smother the flames before she could offer to put them out. Now that she was paying attention, she could tell that Akane's costume appeared to fit exactly the same way her own did. What was left of it anyway, as the halter was now apparently a scorch mark on the floor.

"Hey, Akane," Nabiki announced herself. "Lets go find Ranma and see if we can't be powered down for the night, okay?"

"Yeah," Akane agreed unsteadily. "That seems like a good idea. Let's go ask Sensei!" Nodding with more determination, Akane started moving towards her bedroom door.

"Sensei?" Nabiki cocked an eyebrow at that, but turned to head for the guestroom before Akane could answer. Akane followed her sister down the stairs, apparently without any concern about being topless...

**END CHAPTER FIVE**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _House R'hul_

R'hul sat at the table as its minion's mother served dinner.

"So, tell me, Mr. R'hul," the father began as his wife served his favorite terriaki eel. "How did you meet my son?"

"Blurp burple belch cough burple." R'hul replied as politely as it could with a face full of tentacles.

"Isn't that just the most incredible thing you ever hear dear?" the mother aksed her husband.

R'hul, for its part, just cursed his luck at the fact that its lead minion's parents were C'thulhu's Witnesses...


	7. Chapter Six

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER SIX:**

R'hul kicked back and sucked on a bottle of ketchup as its impromptu Godzilla marathon continued into the next morning. From the first one done in a monochromatic medium of black, white, and grey, through to the colorful smash-fests of the current day, R'hull was enjoying every moment of them all. Alien and its sequil, Aliens, had been enlightening and amusing. Enlightening in that humans had thought of something capable of scaring it on first sight, but amusing from that point on as the terror of the ever diminishing human casts mounted. The Amityville Horror had been nice too.

R'hul supposed there was nothing keeping it from starting in on its lead minion's anime collection. Well, other than sheer amusement over the boy's impatience to watch the hentai selection he had acquired without his parent's knowledge. More giant monster movies it was then!

O O O

Akane rose with the sun, stretching her arms wide as she sat up and yawned. Blinking a few times, she shook her head and tried to make sense of her early morning thoughts.

"Weird dream," Akane giggled. "Me and Nabiki part of a Bishojo Senshi team of magical girls! And those costumes!" She giggled some more at the dream-like memories of the previous day. She was positive that if it hadn't been a dream she would have died from embarrassment walking around in front of her family wearing something that fit like it was painted on, let alone a complete stranger. It had felt so liberating though, that she almost wished that she could wear something like that in real life if she could feel that way while doing it. "Wait till I tell Nabiki!"

And then her eyes grew wide as she noticed the burn mark on her floor from where she remembered tossing an orange halter top the night before...

O O O

Nabiki slept on, quite comfortably snuggled in her bed, oblivious to the early morning world as it woke up around her. Ranma's sapphire token lay on her desk, where she had set it the night before...

O O O

Kasumi appreciated the help that the Saotomes where giving her this morning. Between the fire damage and the water run-off from what was once several impressive ice sculptures, the family room was a mess. Genma had moved the contents of the room out into the yard, where he was sorting them by level of recoverability. Ranma was inspecting the damage, noting which seemed to be caused by what, and apparently trying to come up with a way to reverse what his two new charges had accidentally done.

"I don't know, Pop," the largish blue furred kangaroo rat tilted his head to one side as he looked over the ruined television set. "I know, please don't ask me how I know, I just do. Anyway, I know that what Akane had managed to do was trigger the quick and dirty version of her transformation. Fast, damn hard to interupt, and completely destructive. It's meant for situations where she'd already be in combat or if she had been captured or restrained somehow. All of the elements have a transformation setting like that."

"So what seems to be the problem, Son?" Genma asked as he sorted some fire damaged decorations from the water damaged ones. "Just get Akane to use the other setting. Her transformation sequence should then be similar to those of Nabiki and Shampoo, only with fire instead of water or earth."

"Yeah, that would be the idea," Ranma agreed. "Unfortunately, I have no idea how she triggered that setting to begin with. I'll need to have the girls power up and down a few times and then try to compare notes or something."

"That would seem to make sense," Genma nodded. "I'd recommend getting them to pack several sets of old clothes that they don't wear anymore, and then finding some place secluded and just have them transform over and over again like a regular drill. Both ways, if they can figure it out. I take it from the three armed kimono that Nabiki doesn't have a complete handle on returning to normal yet?"

Ranma blushed at the memory of the two girls powering down for the first time. Akane's power had flickerd and then guttered out suddenly, leaving her not only topless, but completely naked. A fact that had surprised no one, really, other than Akane herself. And she hadn't noticed right away either, although seeing her sister's transformation error had prompted her to check.

Nabiki's own power seemed to drain away as her odd hair and eye coloration reverted to normal, with her costume dispersing as a fine mist. Moments later, her kimono had reformed out of this same mist, only with make-up stains and a third arm from what was presumably the section of Akane's attire that had gotten caught up in things. Even her bra had acquired an extra cup, which would probably have been uncomfortable had any of it actually appeared on Nabiki. Which it hadn't.

Instead, Nabiki's original attire reformed as a scattered pile of clothes in roughly the area she was in, give or take the radius of a ten foot dome centered on the now normal girl, leaving her naked as well.

Akane had aquired the most interesting full body flush, while Nabiki's left eye twitched for a few moments. Then both girls had decided to head for bed, Akane's hasty retreat contrasting sharply with Nabiki forced 'casual' pace as the elder sister attempted to retain some dignity as she returned to her own room.

A little later Nabiki had come back, dressed in green pajamas. Picking up the still dazed guardian beast, she brought him into the house and gave Ranma to his father...

O O O

Shan Pu made good time during the night. As she had guessed, her Earth Warrior form was revitalized nearly continuously while in contact with the ground, which meant that she could cover vast distances in a relatively short amount of time simply because she didn't have to pause for rest breaks. She could get tired by jogging or running, as the canter of those paces caused a person's entire body to leave the ground for brief moments, but a good brisk march had kept at least one part of her body in direct contact with the ground at all times.

Shan Pu's pack, which had been ready to go for several weeks now, was easily ten times as massive as she could have previously carried. Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of the additional weight was comprised of various stones. Nice, simple, and direct, being able to attack at range with flying rocks was quite fun, and presumably useful for staying out of reach of those demons that she'd rather not touch.

For a moment she reflected on the strange war garb she wore in her role as a Warrior of Earth, as well as the other changes inherent with her powered up state. The costume itself was colored in earth tones, with some turquoise highlights. Sturdy boots and gloves were reinforced with, of all things, jade and granite, and were surprisingly comfortable despite their clunky and rigid appearance. The pants were short, ending halfway down her thighs, and the shirt was also a sleeveless, abbreviated affair that left her midriff bare. Both articles had raised trim and decorative designs that looked and felt like immovable stone but moved and flexed as easily as the rest of the material it was a part of, which differed from body paint only in that she could remove it like normal clothes. Granted, it would turn to sand when it left contact with her, but she just took that as more proof of its magical nature. Shan Pu's skin was currently a deep nut tan and her hair and eyes had both become a rich deep brown that most in the village likened to chocolate and one jealous warrior had called mud.

Once.

No one in the village had felt particularly inclined to make that mistake within the range of Shan Pu's hearing again, although some took Genma's theft of his son's token shortly thereafter as a sign that Shan Pu had lost the favored Champion position.

Utter nonsense. Shan Pu would show them all by finding Ranma and then leading whatever team of outsider women to victory over the coming demon invasion! The strength of the Earth Warrior was not to be taken lightly!

Emphasizing her thoughts, Shampoo hammered a tree with her fist as she marched briskly past it, only to be surprised at the loud crack and then crashing of the tree as it fell over and nearly landed on her!

Checking her bearings, the young Nichieju determined that the sapphire token that contained her errant guardian beast was still far to the east, towards the rising sun...

O O O

"So, where are we going again?" Nabiki asked her younger sister, who had taken the lead once they left the house. Both girls were dressed, as instructed by Ranma, in old clothes and were bringing along a few sets of replacements in small back packs, along with a bento Kasumi had prepared for each of them, and some extra money if they ran late and wanted to get something to eat on the way home. Ranma rode on Nabiki's shoulders in much the same way she had seen the neighbor's cat, Hinakyo, do with his owners from time to time.

Funny how Ranma had stiffened up like that when she had commented on that fact. But then she supposed that he would be uncomfortable arround cats now that he was a kangaroo rat, however large and blue he may be.

"There's a gravel storage lot on the edge of Nerima that Public Works uses." Akane explained. "There shouldn't be anyone there on a sunday, and there isn't much we could do to hurt gravel, is there?"

"That seems reasonable," Ranma agreed. Nabiki nodded as well.

The two sisters continued walking, occasionally being greeted by someone that knew one or both of them. Most passersby assumed that the fuzzy blue creature on the one girls shoulder was either a toy or an exotic pet, while the rest didn't seem to know what to make of Ranma and thus either stared at him or ignored him completely.

"So, Ranma," Nabiki asked after they had walked a considerable distance, glad that she had decided to exercise to keep her figure. "Tell us about Shampoo. You said that she was able to draw Earth powers from your token?"

"There's really not all that much to say," Ranma said. "She kept me in my token most of the time, so I didn't get to see her practice her powers other than on a few occasions."

"When can we expect to meet her?" Akane asked curiously, wondering what the only other team member so far was like.

"At the rate she's coming, I'd say in a few weeks at most," the blue furred kangaroo rat responded. "She's been powered up since yesterday evening and seems to be recharging herself by staying in contact with the ground."

"So we can recharge ourselves with our elements?" Nabiki asked. "That's good to know."

"Somewhat," Ranma nodded. "I think there are limits, but I'm not sure what they are yet."

The girls thought about this and other things for a while.

O O O

R'hul decided to take a break from the monster movie marathon and was currently examining itself in the bathroom mirror, pondering how best to disguise itself. It's build was already mostly male, although R'hul was actually genderless. It wasn't even very important, merely being an advanced scout picked from its creche to poke around and get things started on this end. If it failed, another would be sent in its place easily enough.

Sighing, R'hul decided that it had better show some initiative and actually do something for the cause if it wanted to be advanced to the next level. Its minions had been spreading their tag, so perhaps it was time to send one along to activate one. Preferably one of the ones farther away from its current domicile.

With the impulse sent to a random minion, R'hul turned its attention fully towards properly transforming itself...

O O O

Genma approached the door with no small amount of trepedition in his heart, but his resolve remained strong and he knocked without hesitation. Hearing movement inside, Genma reminded himself that he was doing this for his son. For his family. To make up for the mistakes of his past. No matter the cost to himself, so long as his son was spared further injustice.

He had to do this for Ranma's sake. For his son, he'd have the courage to face the greatest of dangers. And he would brave them alone, bearing the full weight of responsibility so as to spare his son.

The door opened, revealing a woman with chestnut hair and familiar blue eyes.

"Genma?" Nodoka asked. "Is that you?"

"No-chan," Genma began, "I have much to tell you..."

**END CHAPTER SIX**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _Sucks to be R'hul_

R'hul couldn't take it anymore!

It had to end! Where was the controller? How could he turn it off?

This travesty just could not go on any longer!

As R'hul slowly decended into quivering madness, its chief minion came in with some more ketchup for his Master and wondered why R'hul was watching My Neighbor Totoro...


	8. Chapter Seven

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

"Okay, we're here!" Akane announced, as she lead Nabiki and Ranma into the gravel storage lot. It was fairly large, with a small building on one end, several large piles of gravel in various grades, and even a few hills of black asphalt. A simple chain-link fence surrounded the whole lot, but the gate consisted solely of a chain hanging across the driveway with a sign that said 'closed' hanging from the middle of it. There did not seem to be anyone there at the moment.

"Looks good, and the gravel piles should keep the two of you from being seen or heard unless you get too flashy," Ranma observed.

"Dad brought me here a couple of times to do some training outside the Dojo," Akane explained as she stepped over the chain and started through the yard. "We would spar for a bit on and around the gravel piles near the far end of the lot. He said that the acoustics would break up anything short of yells or screams, so we wouldn't have to worry about disturbing anyone if we got too enthusiastic."

"Geeze, Akane," Nabiki commented. "If that was anyone but Dad, that would've sounded suspicious."

"I suppose so," Akane agreed.

"So, Ranma," Nabiki redirected her attention as Akane lead them further into the lot amongst the gravel piles. "How many elements can you support? Just the Western four, or our traditional five? Or should that be the Chinese five, since you became a Guardian Beast there?"

Ranma thought for a moment before responding. "Eight, I think. Shampoo, Akane, and you have Earth, Fire, and Water already. The others are: Air, Wood, Metal, Light, and Dark. I'm pretty sure that that's it."

"That sounds like either an amalgamation of the various traditional sets, or a standard videogame RPG set," Nabiki observed.

"Videogame RPG?" the furry blue kangaroo rat cocked his head to the side, perplexed.

"You know," Nabiki tried to explain. "Role Playing, only as a videogame instead of with pen and paper."

"Not a clue, sorry," Ranma admitted.

"Final Fantasy? Breath of Fire? Dragon Quest?" Nabiki prompted.

"Nabiki, the only video games I ever got to play were Pac-Man, Zaxxon, and Gallaxian," Ranma explained. "Although I had gotten rather good at Martial Arts Pinball before Pop made me quit. He said that if I was getting so lazy as to let some blind boy beat me in a tournament, I could be doing other things to improve my hand-eye co-ordination. Too bad though, the kid was a really cool customer, a regular pinball wizard! I'd have liked to challenge him again. Didn't seem to be all there though..."

Akane and Nabiki just stared at the largish azure rodent ...

O O O

Shin ran as hard as he could. The Master had sent him a mission: Activate one of the 'tags' he and the others had been spreading all over the place since yesterday. All in all, he'd much rather have been doing something else. Something saner. Such as walking into a police station and spitting on any cops he could find before throwing himself on their mercy. He was sure that his new boss was going to suck his brains out.

Or at the very least, shove one of those tentacles up his nose and go poking around in his head again. Shin knew that he did not want that to happen again. As it was, he was already doing several things he had no real desire to do, and rather strong reservations against. But he did them anyway, somehow compelled beyond all reason to obey R'hul's every whim.

Well, perhaps as long as he was useful, R'hul would go ahead and eat other people's brains instead. Looking on the bright side, such as it was, Shin mentally prepaired himself for what he had to do.

Finally reaching a good spot, Shin suddenly raked his fingernails across a random pedestrian's face, drawing blood, which he then smeared on the tag he had placed on the back of a street sign.

The woman's screams were unimportant at this point. Shin had to book least whatever showed up decided that he'd make a nice snack...

O O O

Akane and Nabiki had both set down their backpacks and moved off a bit so that they could try powering up for the first time in the lot when they heard a woman's scream. Sparing Ranma a quick glance, the girls saw his quick nod, just before the large blue kangaroo rat bounded off towards the source of the scream at a considerable clip.

"Right," Nabiki stated seriously. "Let's do this!"

"**_BISHOJO MAGICAL FIRE HENSHIN!_**" Akane yelled, posing dramatically, triggering her transformation.

"Whatever," Nabiki responded, slapping a hand to her face in embarrassment at her sister's antics, although she too transformed.

Regardless of their divergent methodology, both girls felt that the problem was urgent. Perhaps, then, that is why they had BOTH triggered the expedient rapid versions of their transformations. Akane was once again shrouded by a brief, expanding pillar of flames, while Nabiki was briefly encased in a fast growing column of ice which promptly exploded into steam and ice shards.

The two magical girls hit the ground running, in costume and powers ready to go.

O O O

H'rys eyed it's surroundings warily. R'hul would have gone to ground almost immediately, but H'rys did not have that luxury. Its job was to cause trouble and then see who or what responded. This was to be the first of many such probes into the local defenses. H'rys's personal hope was that it would be able to accomplish this task without having to be replaced. Being replaced would mean that it had most likely died gloriously for cause and kin.

Oh look. R'hul's little local minion was running off. Probably still had a sense of self preservation. Good sense on R'hul's part. Saved on having to replace tools too often. The bleeding native was a nice touch. A female human, if H'rys remembered its common stock animal anatomy lessons correctly. Good for slaves, food, and general amusement, but occasionally protected by various defenders from both within and without their species. Hive dwelling humans at that, although H'rys had personally seen bigger structures.

The youma decided to get on with the business of provoking whatever local defenses the natives had. A few more injuries here and there should do the job, then it would grab a bite to eat before hiding and waiting to see what happened next...

O O O

Despite Ranma's best efforts, Akane was actually the first to reach the scene. Although he supposed that the blazing trail she left in her wake would be easy to follow. Good thing it was flickering out almost as fast as it had been ignited, or Nabiki would lag even further behind as she would have otherwise had to extinguish the flames. Not that the elder sister was currently slow by any common measure, as the pace she was setting would have been challenging for any Olympic runner. Ranma, on the other hand, was actually built for speed, as nobody beat 'roos (even small ones) at the long fast haul.

Except flaming speedster apprentices...

"_Ewww..._" Akane focused her attention first on the apparent cause of the disturbance. In this case a ten foot tall squid-faced humanoid youma that looked like it couldn't decide whether it was male or female. It had features appropriate for both genders. Quite prominent features at that, and rather more than simply numerous. Besides those appendages, there was the usual assortment of limbs, having as it did, arms and legs ending in taloned hands and feet. Actually, on closer inspection, most of the far, FAR too many tentacles seemed to be proper tentacles, just like those on a real squid or octopus. And what Akane had first taken as more feminine features seemed to be organs for spewing acidic inky liquid instead.

Okay, so it wasn't a tentacle rape demon. It was, however, causing havoc, terrorizing people, and very very slimey. As it was about to lash out at another person trying desperately to get away, Akane decided to take action!

**FWOOM!**

The creature's excretions turned out to be surprisingly flammable.

O O O

Nodoka stared at her husband incredulously. What Genma had told her of the training trip so far was turning out to be hard to take. Oh, to be sure, most of it was quite normal, consisting of a sensei seeking ever more challenging obstacles for a promising student, and much of that spoke rather well of her husband and son. It was the other parts that were bothering Nodoka. How, in the names of all the kami, was Genma expecting Ranma to fulfil the multiple marriage promises he had made for his son?

At the very least, Nodoka would have expected Genma to stop home from time to time in an effort to produce more heirs after making such boneheaded mistakes. Or perhaps gone through the effort to adopt more sons to fulfil the need.

Hearing about the horrors of the Neko-Ken from her husbands own lips left Nodoka with an icey pit of fear in her stomach. Where was Ranma? Why wasn't he here? What had happened to their only child that Genma would come home alone to bear the sole weight of her judgment on his vow to turn Ranma into a Man among Men?

Oh Kami-sama, what had happened to her little boy?

O O O

H'rys was only mildly irritated at this turn of events. Sure, the fire elemental had seared away most of its thinner tentacles in its initial attack, and it had been forced to draw its acidic poison glands back into its body to prevent any more of them from exploding, but over all, the situation didn't appear to be too bad. Fire elementals may be strong in their particular field, but they also had some pretty severe weaknesses.

And these humans, like those on so many other worlds, liked to keep plenty of water handy.

Noting that the little elemental seemed to have been summoned in the form of a human female, and that it was trying to fight physically, H'rys relaxed a bit. Whoever had summoned the elemental was either inexperienced in utilizing such to their best effect or was worried about collateral damage. Electing to have an elemental attack via some form of fighting art was novel, but whoever was controlling the fire elemental was obviously unused to the speed and manueverability their creation had.

Distracting the dancing elemental with a few feints of its own, H'rys discretely reached a couple of largish tentacles back and grabbed a hold of...

No, a waste receptacle was not what it was reaching for. That just added fuel to the little one. How had that gotten in the way anyway?

Glancing back for a moment to be sure that their was nothing else between it and its target, H'rys once again turned its attention towards distracting the fire elemental while it reached back again...

Okay, something was amiss here. There was no paper container of human foodstuffs anywhere in the vicinity of the water valve...

O O O

Ranma stayed hidden as he looked around for something else to stop the large youma from grabbing the fire hydrant. Not that being exposed to water would do much more than distract Akane, or perhaps dampen her elemental powers a bit, but that was a distraction she couldn't afford to have right now.

Damn her for a fool for running into combat without knowing what even some of her abilities were. And damn him for a fool as well for letting her. If he wasn't so sure that Akane would leave herself wide open trying to 'protect' him, he'd leap out and face the monster directly.

Which wasn't a bad idea, actually, but Ranma was still trying to figure out how he had gotten so big the previous day.

Hey, Nabiki showed up! And she's taking stock of the situation before getting involved.

The largish azure kangaroo rat placed another bag of groceries between the fire hydrant and the creature's seeking tentacles before hopping off to help advise his other charge towards a suitable course of action that wouldn't interfere with her sister...

O O O

Nabiki's mind reeled. There was Akane, fighting a giant squid-faced youma, as if she were some hyped up little superball bouncing here there and everywhere as she attacked, dodged, and feinted. Nabiki would have been really impressed if Akane didn't look like she was half out of control for most of it.

"What _is_ that thing?" Nabiki asked, noting that Ranma was bounding towards her.

"Smarter than it looks, for one thing," Ranma replied. "Look, we haven't gotten around to training the two of you for teamwork with your powers, so I'm going to have to ask you to sit this one out until I can get Akane to back off. I think it's mistaken her for an actual elemental or something, and it's trying to put her out with water."

"Right. I don't need to be used against my little sister. Got it," the blue haired girl readily agreed. "I'll just help get the civilians clear of the area."

"Sounds good," Ranma agreed. "Now I'm going back to the fight before Akane gets into more serious trouble."

O O O

Spotting the little blue creature intercepting the blue haired human female, H'rys wondered if it might have made an error. The red haired female might not actually be an elemental. Some sort of empowered champion then? That would make sense if the tiny blue thing was some sort of guardian spirit. There seemed to be just two defenders, plus the guardian, so odds favored the humans having been empowered only recently.

Suspicious timing, that. Quite fortuitous though, if it were true. Time to do a more direct examination.

Ripping a sign post out of the ground, H'rys revealed that it had gotten the fire girl's measure by pinning her to the ground through her torso.

H'rys would have to have a look on the inside later, to see what had made the little human elemental tick. Too bad she had burnt its thinner tentacles away earlier, or it could do a mind probe by reaching up through her nostrils and piercing the cranium through that cavity. It would save that part for R'hul to do. Now how to provoke the other one into attacking?

H'rys chuckled to itself evilly as it remembered some of the more interesting misinterpretations humans from various worlds had ascribed to the actions of its kind. Especially given the uncanny similarity in appearance its probes had to anatomical parts that had entirely different functions on humans.

Just a quick set of biological probes then. Holding the humans jaws apart with a set of talons, H'rys prepared to insert one of the remaining probing tentacles through that orifice while the remaining fleshy, rope-like probes sought out other orifices...

O O O

"**_AKANE!_**" Nabiki screamed in horror as she watched her younger sister receive a stop sign post through her heart. "Akane..."

At first paralyzed in grief for her fallen sister, Nabiki could only watch in horror and disgust as the creature lurked over Akane's all too still form. The fear gave way to disgust as it inserted THAT into her sisters mouth and seemed about to go into full tentacle rape demon mode.

Disgust rapidly became helpless anger, which turned to impotent fury...

Which gave way to reckless rage!

With a roar not unlike the crashing of a tsunami during a coastal monsoon, Nabiki charged into battle!

**END CHAPTER SEVEN**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _Gone far too long..._

Nodoka stared at her husband incredulously. What Genma had told her of the training trip so far was turning out to be hard to take. Oh, to be sure, most of it was quite normal, consisting of a sensei seeking ever more challenging obstacles for a promising student, and much of that spoke rather well of her husband and son. It was the other parts that were bothering Nodoka. How, in the names of all the kami, was Genma expecting their son to fulfill the multiple marriage promises he had made for him?

At the very least, Nodoka would have expected Genma to stop home from time to time in an effort to produce more heirs after making such boneheaded mistakes. Or perhaps gone through the effort to adopt more sons to fulfill the need.

Hearing about the horrors of the Neko-Ken from her husbands own lips left Nodoka with an icey pit of fear in her stomach. Where was their son? Why wasn't he here? What had happened to their only child that Genma would come home alone to bear the sole weight of her judgment on his vow to turn their son into a Man among Men?

Oh Kami-sama, what had happened to her little boy?

And who was this Ranma kid that Genma kept talking about? Their son was named Tatawaki, wasn't he? Or was that Mikaido? Damn, she'd have to look up the birth certificate again to be sure. Damn Genma for staying away so long that she forgot her own son's name. It couldn't be Ranma, of course.

Who in their right mind would agree to name their son Chaos Demon? Unless Genma meant Wild Horse instead?


	9. Chapter Eight

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

Nabiki's first kick was easily blocked by the tentacle demon thing. Not that it helped the creature all that much considering that she hit like a runaway freight train. The monster was knocked back through the side of a building, and Nabiki followed through the hole she had made without hesitation.

The thing had killed her baby sister and had been about to rape her corpse

It wasn't going to live another day if the enraged water warrior could do anything about it!

O O O

Akane shook her head to clear it as she started to shift her legs and elbows to get up. She was short of breath and pretty sure that she had a cracked rib from that last blow with the chunk of concrete on the bottom of the signpost, so she was grateful for whatever caused the youma to move on.

"Yo, Sparky," that voice belonged to Sensei! "You feelin' okay?"

Shaking her head again, Akane blinked her eyes open and tried to focus on Sensei's voice. He was standing on her torso for some reason, just above the collar bones, leaning over her face and blocking her view. He also appeared to be made out of flame now, although he still had those pretty blue eyes. Eyes that radiated concern for her welfare.

"Guess I bit off more than I could chew, Sensei," the fire warrior said. "I think I have a cracked rib..."

"Yeah, well, it happens to the best of us," Sensei told her. "Still, I shouldn't have let you run off ahead like that without any idea of what your powers are, or how to use them."

Akane tried to sit up, but something was blocking her. "Sensei, something is pinning me down."

"Oh,that," The blazing kangaroo rat tilted his head to the side then looked back. "It probably has something to do with the stop sign sticking through that flaming hole in your chest. If you could turn the rest of the way into fire for a moment you should be able to get up."

"Sensei," Akane grumbled as she tried to figure out how to follow the instructions, all the while wondering why she wasn't going into shock. She didn't even feel particularly hurt other than being short of breath for some reason, and rather tired. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a _horrible_ bedside manner?"

"No," Ranma looked at Akane again, and tilted his head to one side. "Why do you ask?"

O O O

Okay, H'rys could admit to itself that perhaps it had made a mistake in trying to provoke the other magical girl. Granted, even as overpowered as the attacks were, they were barely under control, had no finnesse to them, and were actually easy to dodge, block, or parry. Granted, with as much unaccountable momentum as the female was putting into her strikes, it preferred to dodge or parry, saving the blocks for last resorts.

This human female didn't fight like either a magical girl OR an elemental. She fought like a golem. Relentless, uncaring, untrained, unthinking, and (regardless of the last two) apparently unstoppable.

There were times when H'rys really came to hate magic, even if it was pretty much a fact of its life. For something that attacked like a golem, hitting back was about as effective as punching water. It only hoped that its opponent WAS a novice magical girl, with the typical low reserves such usually had early in their careers. And if that was the case, that it could hold out long enough for its inexperienced adversary to wear herself out.

The concept of some human having figured out how to make an actual water golem was just too depressing to contemplate...

O O O

Nabiki didn't even notice that her height had shot up ten, twenty, then forty feet tall as the battle intercepted broken water pipes, or that she was now more obviously made of her element of power. Her tunnel vision only noted that her target, the creature that had killed Akane, was now very vulnerable. A downward punch left a rather large crater where the monster had just been scant seconds before. Nabiki's follow up strikes were equally fruitless but somewhat cathartic given her great need to lash out and break something.

She was far too focused on her quarry to care about the collateral damage she was causing. It was unimportant, and thus ignored.

At least no one was going to tell her otherwise while she was still obviously very big, very powerful, and beyond all reason.

O O O

Feeling mostly better now that the hole in her chest had closed itself, Akane cautiously followed her sister's trail of destruction, with Ranma now riding on her shoulders. She was vaguely aware that her shirt now had gaping hole in the front and back, and that her left breast was thus bare, but it just didn't feel important at the moment, so Akane ignored it. "Sensei... Why am I still alive? That post had to have taken out my heart and left lung, not to mention part of my spine as well..."

"Ever try to put out a fire by poking it with a stick, Sparky?" The still flaming kangaroo rat asked in return. "It doesn't work that way. While you aren't exactly a fire elemental, you aren't exactly human anymore either, at least not when you're powered up. When you need to, you can borrow traits from either side. For example, turning part of yourself into fire to cover vital functions."

"So we're immortal?" Akane asked the burning kangaroo rat on her shoulder.

"Akane," Ranma's tone became dead serious as he tried to look her straight in the eyes as best as he could from that angle. "Had that creature had time to _dowse_ the part of you that had turned to fire, you'd be _dead_ right now. You are _not_ immortal. None of you are. You are just _very_ hard to hurt in any significant manner. There is a big difference, and I want you to remember that."

"Yes, Sensei," Akane nodded sheepishly.

"Now lets go save Nerima from that rampage, okay," Ranma suggested. Then, with a smirk, he continued, "We might as well stop Squid-face from destroying Nerima too, while we're at it."

"Yes, Sensei!" Akane agreed, picking up the pace. Then she realized something. "_Hey!_ Are you calling my sister a monster?"

"No," Ranma stated, earning a sharp nod from Akane. "I'm saying that she's on a rampage. Look around you, Sparky. Does any of this damage look like it was caused by tall dark and octopus-like?"

Indeed, from what Akane could tell from looking at the damage now that she was paying attention, it appeared that Nerima had been hit with a localized typhoon rather than a tentacled monster...

O O O

"So, in the dead of the night, I used every technique I could remember from the dread Master's teachings, and made my way into Shampoo's house to take our son's token from her," Genma continued his long explanation. "There was no way Ranma could be meant for someone who wouldn't let him out of his damn token except for showing him off or when under orders. Our son deserves better than that. If becoming a guardian beast instead of being cursed is a sign of worthiness, then by the kami that did this to him, let Ranma be worthy of serving more considerate champions!"

Nodoka was startled when Genma's fist hit the tatami mat in emphasis, but she understood and agreed with him on the subject of Ranma deserving better than the treatment he was getting from this Shampoo girl. Still, tears rolled down her face from the knowledge that their little boy had his life ursurped by a destiny that stole away his humanity.

"I am sad to say that it was only then that my eyes began to open to the kind of man I had become, Nodoka," Genma's tone was full of self-recrimination and regret. "I decided to return to Japan, to see if any of my friend Soun Tendo's daughters could activate our son's token. I figured that if Ranma must serve a female champion, let it be in partial fulfillment of at least one of the pledges I had made. I also hoped that Soun's daughters would give Ranma better treatment than he received under his champion in Joketsuzoku. Much to my relief and delight, TWO of Soun's daughters can activate Ranma's token!"

"Ranma is there then?" Nodoka asked. "At the Tendo's?"

"He will be staying there as I try to search for either a cure or for the conditions under which he may be returned to his humanity," Genma confirmed. "Nabiki, who was able to draw the elemental power of water from Ranma's token, treats our son as a person, and seems to be his current chosen warrior. Akane, Nabiki's younger sister, drew fire, and seems to consider our son to be her sensei. Either one should make a fine wife for our son once he regains his humanity."

"Would he be there now?" Nodoka asked, almost begging.

"Not at the moment, Dear," Genma shook his head negatively. "Nabiki and Akane both need to be trained, so Ranma is starting their training today. They should return to the Tendo home around or shortly after supper. In the mean time, I had planned on visiting some local shrines and temples after bearing your judgement, should I still be able to."

Genma looked his wife straight in the eyes and then bowed low from his sitting position, making what may be his final request. "Nodoka, all I ask... All I can dare to ask... Is that I alone bear the full weight of your judgment should you decide that I have failed in my vow to raise our son, Ranma, to be a man among men. That, should you find it impossible to forgive me, that you at least forgive our son and continue my quest to find a cure, or the conditions for his return to humanity after I am gone..."

O O O

H'rys continued to dodge the powerful blows of the giant water girl, desperately wondering when she would run out of power. After observing the female get bigger and more water-like with every exposure to the broken pipes cause by their battle, H'rys decided to try to lure its opponent away from any more of the human hive structures. Some random searching had eventually lead the battle to what appeared to be an area set aside for gravel storage.

It was dry, had the advantage of loose earth material with which might disrupt and weaken waterbased creatures like elementals or this female hybrid, and at the very least, the huge piles of gravel should rob its opponent of much of her momentum.

YES!

H'rys cheered internally as its oponent began to slow down and show signs of tiring. The female hybrid was begining to act disoriented and confused, obviously near the end of her current limits.

When the hybrid suddenly shed her excess water and dropped listlessly to her knees, H'rys decided that it was time move in for the capture...

It was rather surprised when the fire hybrid streaked in and rescued her now naked and powerless partner, considering that it had pinned her to the ground in what should have been a fatal manner. If the local protectors had that kind of recovery ability, it really couldn't afford to play games like this.

Weighing its options, H'rys decided to go for the kill and eliminate both hybrids now while they were both still weak.

The sudden appearance of the guardian beast, now flaming, between it and the hybrids gave H'rys only a moment's pause. Such a tiny flame would be easy to extinguish. Oh, how cute! It looked like it was about to attack. This should be amusin-

O O O

Akane turned arround at Sensei's roar, so much louder than his small size would suggest was possible. As she stood stunned, with her exhausted sister in her arms, Akane could only stare in awe at the trailing end of Sensei's breath of fire. The only sign of the youma was a dark carbon shadow on a now glassy and smoldering pile of gravel...

"Sensei..."

"Let's go home, Sparky," Ranma stated as he quickly spotted the two packs the girls had brought along. "This place is probably going to get a lot of attention neither of you are ready for yet pretty soon. Training's done for the day."

O O O

**END CHAPTER EIGHT**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _The 60,000,000,000 Girl..._

Meryl Stryfe and Millie Thompson looked over the damage in New York. Most of it appeared to have been caused by a localized monsoon, but reports had ascribed it all to one person, whom they were now trying to locate. A person who was probably now the most wanted person on the planet, described by many as a permanent natural disaster, and the bearer of the largest price on her head Meryl had ever heard about.

Rumors and tall tales had the origins of this person as being close to a thousand years ago, at the start of the first demon wars. The damage caused then by the woman and her team mates was impressive even then, before the Chaos Demon that was supposed to have been the source of their power was sealed away with most of its warriors.

Only one had escaped that trap, and had been searching for a way to free her companions ever after.

Her power had grown through the ages, as had her cunning and resolve.

She had evaded many capture attempts, and even with the apparent hatred that the rest of the humanity bore for her, she openly fought the demon oppressors whenever she encountered them.

Meryl and Millie's mission was to find her and try to find some way to control the damage in the wake of her battles so as to cut down on insurance premiums paid out by their company.

The humanoid typhoon, Nabiki the Stampede, last remaining servant of the Chaos Demon Ranma...


	10. Chapter Nine

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

Philip Jacobs (the new guy)

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER NINE:**

After reverting back to her unpowered state and getting dressed, Akane managed to get her emotionally drained and physically exhausted sister dressed as well. Sensei politely looked the other way while she did so, keeping an eye out for anyone who might come across them. He had reverted from the blazing form to what she had come to think of as his regular blue furred one. As Akane prepared to pick up Nabiki to give her a piggyback ride home, Akane thought of something.

"Sensei," she asked, "what should we do about our packs? It's going to be awkward carrying them and my sister too."

"Carry them anyway," Sensei said. "It'll be good training for you."

Whatever response Akane was going to give was cut short when Nakiki glomped onto her and began wailing. "_WAAAAAAHHH! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! WAAAAAAHHH!_"

Akane's hair toinged out of place here and there as her sister produced a fountain of tears that rivaled any of those performed by their father...

O O O

Kasumi was out shopping with her father. They were currently visiting some shops that would have been unusual for either of them to go to no more than two days ago.

"Oh! Wouldn't that be simply adorable on Ranma, Father?" Kasumi asked, pointing out a sailor outfit for a doll.

"Ahem..." Soun coughed. "I'm not sure that Ranma would appreciate that particular outfit, Kasumi. Why don't we order the lumber first, and then try for some replacement furnishings before getting into what clothes Ranma might want in his condition?"

"Well... I guess that would be more prudent..." Kasumi agreed, slightly disappointed. Still, she had managed to find some fabric and terrycloth that were both just the right shade of blue, as well as some bead eyes that were very close to looking like sapphires, so this stop wasn't a complete bust for her.

O O O

R'hul pondered his new appearance in the bathroom mirror. He had a gender now, and had selected a more or less bishonen appearance based on his chief minion's opinion that many of the local females liked that look and would thus be disarmed by his new form. He missed his tentacles though. Which, he supposed, was why he had chosen to be male, given the similarity that their one appendage had to his race's probing tentacles, even if it was far too short and had an entirely different function.

Getting dressed in some of his chief minion's better clothing, making sure that the attire was clean first to be sure, R'hul swept his long wavy black hair back and attempted to scry H'rys' location in order to see what the local defenders brought to bear...

Oh dear...

This _could not possibly_ be any good...

R'hul stared into the mirror, viewing an image that should have been H'rys and its immediate environment. Especially since the scrying spell was specifically cast to focus on the other agent, and should have located him either in this world or back in the staging area of the previous one. Instead, he continued to gaze upon his own reflection as he pondered what had happened to H'rys. The possibilities were various but rather low, ranging from being lost in transfer due to irregularities in the interdimensional barriers all the way to instant death upon arrival due to efficient local defences.

R'hul dismissed the later out of hand, given the evidence of his own continued existence, and while the first was possible, weak zones in interdimensional barriers tended to diffuse over a relatively large area. Thus, it was rather unlikely that any of his local minions had placed a tag far enough away for that to be a problem. This left the answer as being somewhere in the middle. Time to back off for a bit, have his minions quietly gather information that might relate to what had happened to H'rys, and try to plan out the next probing action.

Dismissing the ineffective scrying spell, R'hul returned to the family room of his current domicile and sat down heavily on one of the flesh-bags to consider how best to prepare his first report...

O O O

Nabiki, having cried herself out from her relief that her younger sister was alive and well, rode Akane piggyback as they made their way back home. No one spared them a second glance, assuming that the two sisters were yet another pair of refugees from the battle that had recently torn through this section of Nerima. And there were plenty of other refugees walking around too, both the walking wounded and others who just seemed to be in a state of shock. The more Nabiki saw, the worse she felt over all the lives and livelihoods she had disrupted with her super powered tantrum. She had no idea how some of these people would recover from the damages she inflicted on their businesses alone, not to mention all of the physical injuries.

"Well, there doesn't seem to be any fatalities," Ranma stated dryly from his perch on one of the small packs Akane was also carrying. "That does not mean that this isn't still a bad thing though. Losing control like that could have killed someone, and nearly got you killed as well."

"And you say that I have a nasty temper, Nabiki," Akane chided.

"I know," Nabiki grumbled. "And you _do_ have a nasty temper, Akane. It's just that apparently _I_ have one too."

"In that case, I want to see the two of you spar in the Dojo after you've had time to recover a bit," Ranma stated. "If you are going to be fighting these Outsiders, then I need to make sure that you are both trained properly and can work as a team. And the first step for that is for me to see where your standings in our Families' School of Anything Goes Martial Arts are."

"Yes, Sensei," Akane agreed readily. Nabiki just groaned and hit her head on Akane's left shoulder repeatedly...

O O O

"Husband," Nodoka began formally, once Genma had finished his tale, stated his plans, and presented himself for judgement. "You have come to me, bearing a tremendous burden of guilt for your actions against our son, Ranma. You have done deeds, both petty and grave, that have put the honor of both our son and our family at risk. And you have led our son to a training ground where his very humanity was stolen from him. For any of this I could condemn you, and possibly our son as well, and either have you thrown out of the clan or called upon to fulfil your pledge to its fullest extent. And yet..."

Nodoka's tone grew gentler, but no less formal. "And yet, there was much good in what you have told me as well. Yes, you have led our son time and time again into danger, and time and time again he has overcome the challenges you have placed before him, thus he grew in the Art of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Yes, you have accepted tasks and quests in our son's name for the sake of petty greed, but he has thus come to learn to aid people in need and has come to be a better person for it. And yes, you did lead our son to Jusenkyo, but I can find no honor in requiring either of you to pay for what an accidental encounter with magic has done."

"Genma, even if had Ranma not been found worthy and had been left with the original effect you say this Nyanniichuan, Spring of Drowned Girl, would have had - I could not have been able to justify calling either of you to commit seppuku for something that magic and the whims of the kami have done. And you say that the locals told you that Ranma has been found worthy to be called to serve a higher destiny. For that I can find no fault in Ranma that I would deem unmanly at this point."

"Finally, Genma, even though you perceive yourself to have failed our son," Nodoka's voice was gentler still, almost a whisper in the still air of the Saotome residence. "Even with the burden you have placed on your own soul, you have come to me alone, to bear the full weight of my judgement, asking only that I spare, and even aid, our son Ranma. That showed a rare courage, my husband, a courage I have not seen from you in many years, since about a year or so after Happosai had taken over your training from your father. Once again, you have become the man I had married all those years ago. A fine man, who may stumble on occasion, but one of courage who can rise to meet the challenges placed before him."

With that, Nodoka stood and turned to leave the room, pausing at the door to look back. "Come, Genma, I wish to reaquaint myself with the man I married away from these grim trappings."

Genma stood, spirits soaring high with renewed hope within his heart. Soon he caught up with Nodoka as she headed for their room. And then he received a bop on the head with the hilt of the Saotome Family Sword.

"And you'll get much more than that if I find out that this multiple fiancee thing is some sort of perverted tradition of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts! Don't think that I've forgotten about Otsuko, Genma!"

"Yes, Dear... I mean _NO_, Dear, it's not a tradition of the School..."

"OR Hitomi!"

"But Nodoka, Sweety, that was _years_ ago! Decades even!"

O O O

Under the late afternoon sun, Shan Pu frowned as she crossed a mountain clearing. For some reason, she was begining to tire out, even with her having stayed in continuous contact with the ground since the night before. Her trackless steps had carried her for league upon league towards her goal, and she was begining to wonder just how far away her token had been taken by that thief of a panda.

Sand poured off of her body as Shan Pu continued on for a few more steps before having to drop the now oppressive weight of her pack. She didn't feel so much physically exhausted as much as suddenly mentally weary. In fact, she began to experience some interesting hallucinations particular to the kind of fatigue brought about by sleep deprivation.

"Argh! What now? I've stayed powered up longer than this before," Shan Pu grumbled irritably as she gathered up the clothing that was reforming on the ground from the scattered sand. "Unless it has something to do with having used my Earth Powers to recharge myself continually since last night. I had better set up camp and cook something to eat."

Without bothering to get dressed, Shan Pu tiredly set up her tent and bed roll near a mountain stream, and (after a few false starts) had a modest campfire going, complete with a grill supporting a small pot of vegetable stew. As she wearily stirred the pot, she wondered how long it would take before she could power up again.

Because if she had to wait too long between periods when she could use her Earth powers freely, then she'd have to lighten her load considerably so she could continue to make time even when not the Earth Warrior...

O O O

Under the evening sky, Soun Tendo sat before his game board, across from Ranma, where the two were playing a serious game of shogi. The Tendo Patriarch was finding the match interesting, as Ranma's playing style was in sharp contrast to what Soun remembered of the boy's father's favorite tactics.

"I'm given to understand that my girls saw a little action today, Ranma," Soun stated in a calm but serious tone as he examined the board after Ranma's latest move. The largish blue kangaroo rat was playing a delaying tactic, trying to recover from his poor position. Genma would surely have cheated by now, but his son had yet to choose to do so. Soun could respect that, even if he did enjoy the unorthodox games he and Genma used to indulge themselves in. Playing against Ranma was more like facing a younger player in the park, or like when Kasumi and Nabiki were learning how to play shogi.

Ranma, for his part, sighed. "They weren't ready yet. Heck, we'd just gotten to the gravel yard and were about to start simple training in activating and deactivating their new powers when we heard some woman's scream. I thought it was just a mugging or something, not some demon popping up already."

"There was someone else in the gravel lot with you?" Soun asked, surprised that they had heard anything given the way the loose piles of stone and dust should have broken up any nearby sounds from outside the lot. Soun pressed his advantage on the board while Ranma's pieces were still in a poor attack posture. The lad was definitely more patient in shogi than Akane had been. He learned fast and was good at improvising moves too...

"No," Ranma shook his tiny head in the negative. "That was the oddest thing. The scream was from several blocks away from the lot, but we all heard it clear as a bell. Otherwise it was actually pretty quiet in the lot, just like Akane had said it would be." The fuzzy blue one moved another piece. Playing against his father's friend was not very much like playing against his father. Not that Ranma had ever played more than a few games of shogi or go with Genma, as neither of them bothered to carry a board and pieces with them. Soun obviously had more time to practice, and was proving to be a challenging opponent. Ranma wondered if he had been mistaken to decline Soun's offer to take a more serious handicap as a superior player. Heck, even with the four piece handicap Soun HAD taken, Ranma was hard pressed to hold his own. Still, if he could lure the elder Tendo into making any of a particular set of attacks...

"Yes, that does seem to be odd..." Soun agreed, preparing to make his next move. Noting that his diminutive opponent seemed to become eager as his hand approached one of his silver generals, he reexamined the board and spotted a couple of traps that might have cost him that piece. Ah, the boy was clever, but his body language gave him away, even in this form. Soun casually moved his hand over his pieces until he saw Ranma's tail and tiny shoulders droop, then, double checking for traps in case the boy was faking him out, he made his move.

"They need to learn to work together as a team," Ranma shook his head in disappointment. His father would have fallen for at least one of those traps...

"I agree. Nabiki needs to start training seriously again if she is going to properly answer this call to duty." Soun commented gravely as he waited for the boy to make his next move.

"Tell me something I don't know, Daddy," Nabiki commented dryly from the sidelines, still a little sore from her spar with her younger sister. "You're taking this a lot better than Akane or I thought you would. What with us having just fought a demon and all."

Soun turned to look at his middle daughter. "I am _not_ happy with this situation, Nabiki. If I _could_ do anything about it, none of my little girls would _ever_ have to risk their lives in a battle against dark forces. At the same time though, you and Akane _have_ been called to a unique duty, and the fact that a demon has shown up here in Nerima shows that it is a serious duty that _does_ need to be carried out."

Soun's shoulder's slumped as he started to weep softly. "If I thought it would do _any_ good, I would banish Ranma from this house and forbid either of you from _ever_ contacting him again, even knowing that this is no fault of his. We would move somewhere else, away from any possible demon attacks. But really, _where_ would such a place be? _Where_ could I take my precious girls that would be totally safe from such dangers? And I must ask myself if would either of you be alive today if you had not been given your powers? Would you have been safe here at home, with the nearest magical champion that Ranma knows about all the way over in China?"

"Dad..." Akane started softly.

"Mr. Tendo..." Ranma started as well, then paused.

"No," Soun interupted. "I am not happy with this situation, but at the same time, my babies are safer with these powers than without them. I will pick up their training as much as I am able, but I fear even now that I cannot bring myself to push my daughters as hard as I must to see them through this crisis. Ranma, I trust that you will train my daughters as well, both with their powers and as well as you can without their powers. I want my girls to be safe."

"I will do my best, Mr. Tendo," Ranma stood as straight as he could, and then bowed as best as he was able. "I will not fail your trust."

**END CHAPTER NINE**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _With advice like this._

Contributed by Philip Jacobs...

R'hul pondered his new appearance in the bathroom mirror. He had a gender now, and had selected a more or less bishonen appearance based on his chief minion's opinion that many of the local females liked that look and would thus be disarmed by his new form. He missed his tentacles though. And despite the assurances of his minion, he was not sure having multiple deep purple gelled spikes projecting from his black hairdo was going to "Get him all the chicks."


	11. Chapter Ten

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

Philip Jacobs,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER TEN:**

R'hul, intent on keeping his current local domicile discrete for at least a while yet, had transformed his chief minion's father back into his regular human form and had proceeded to do some mnemonic editing to keep the man's behavior at work from arousing too many suspicions too soon. This had, naturally, required that he transform at least part of the way back into his true form, enough so that his smaller probing tentacles were both accessible and functional. And the emotional responses of the male humans, father and offspring alike, were well worth the loss of a fine piece of furniture.

After all, with the level of mental and behavioral editing required to force the older human to go through the motions of daily life in the local hive without giving anything away, R'hul didn't expect to get much more than an emotionless husk back by the time all was said and done. Oh well, he could just slate that one for further experimentation when this part of the mission was over and done with. No sense in ruining more of his personal stock than required by duty, no matter how recently he acquired them.

The feral humans R'hul was using were a different story. While he had found out that they should be getting ready to report to their instructional creche at this time, the fact that they were often deliberately absent provided a good enough cover for him to keep them away from their peers. He'd eventually have to do something about their parents as well, but for the moment R'hul knew that the social dynamics that generally produced feral humans would keep their suspicion levels low. At least as far as the matter of their offspring having been sublimated to the will of a superior entity. In any event, he would have all of his local minions over today, in order to find out more about this world and to see what sort of information gathering capabilities existed in the local hive.

O O O

Ranma gradually woke up on his own once again, snuggled in between two warm and soft pillows covered in silky fabric, although he wondered at the cushioned brace holding him there. Not that it wasn't comfortable, but he could have sworn that he'd gone to sleep on a make-shift futon consisting of a couple of fluffy towels, with a third one as a blanket, so where was he now?

And then the whole 'bed' shifted, and Ranma now found himself held in place by the brace between the two mounds, with one resting on him as he rested on the other. Shaking his head to clear away the remaining early morning grogginess, the gerbil-sized blue kangaroo rat opened his eyes and looked around...

Oh...

_Oh my..._

Kasumi woke up a bit later to find that Ranma was still asleep, so she carefully set him on her bed as she got up. After getting dressed, she gently carried him back to the guest room and placed him back on his little futon, none the wiser for having helped her return to the safe and carefree nights of her childhood.

O O O

Genma woke up to in the loving embrace of his wife for the first time in ten long years. He and Nodoka had indeed gotten to know each other all over again, and despite a brief argument about events long past and best forgotten, one thing had lead to another and he never had gotten around to visiting any temples yesterday.

Nodoka was still asleep, which he took as something of a compliment for his performance, considering that she usually woke up at the same time as he did. Smiling gently, he tucked her back in and made his way quietly to the kitchen to surprise his wife with breakfast in bed.

Preparations were completed in short order, and he had their plates on a serving tray and had just left the kitchen when he was smacked in the face with a blunt, rod-shaped object!

Nodoka looked at the resulting mess of spilled food and drink and then at the welt across the face of her husband. "I'm so sorry, Dear! I thought last night was a dream and woke up to noises in the kitchen! I thought you were a burglar!"

"I'm just glad you kept the sheath on that thing," Genma grumbled as he glared briefly at the Saotome Family Sword. "Oh well, the damage is done. Why don't you get started on another breakfast, while I clean this mess and wash up?"

O O O

Nabiki stalked into the kitchen as Akane returned from her morning jog, and bapped her elder sister softly on her head. "You broke Ranma again, didn't you?" She asked, presenting a dazed, somewhat smaller than usual, blue furred kangaroo rat to her sisters.

"Oh dear," Kasumi responded in a slightly contrite and apologetic tone. "I didn't think he had noticed. He didn't the night before..."

"What?" Akane asked, looking between her sisters, wondering what was going on.

"Big sister's been borrowing Ranma at night for her cuddle-buddy, just like a stuffed animal," Nabiki explained. A tiny smirk worked its way past her stern expression. "And without his knowledge or consent, either. Sis, I'm surprised at you."

"Well, he makes me feel safe and warm and free of worries and cares, just like when Mother was still with us." Kasumi explained in a more contrite and less apologetic tone than before.

"If that's the case, I think I'll ask him if he'd mind doing that particular favor for me some time," Nabiki retorted while Akane began to poke her dazed and limp sensei...

"Hey! He twitched!" Akane exclaimed excitedly as she grabbed Ranma and began shaking him with enthusiasm!

"Wha-a? Wha? I-I'm up! I'm u-up!" Ranma squeeked, voice stuttering with each shake. "What's up, Sparky?" He asked as Akane stopped shaking him and set him on the counter, where he expanded back up to about the size of a cat.

"I was wondering what was on our training agenda for today" Akane explained, smiling. "Are we going to learn our magic attacks today, or practice our sentai team poses? Or perhaps..." Akane was stopped short when Nabiki covered her mouth firmly with one hand.

"Enough, Akane," Nabiki stated tiredly. "Get ready for school, we can't skip class just because we have powers now you know."

O O O

A short while later, Nabiki and Akane were walking down the street from their home, on the way to Furinkan High. Nabiki had Ranma in her schoolbag, along with her notebooks and homework. Remarkably, he was even smaller than when she had found him in the guestroom earlier, as he had just discovered how to adjust his size a bit on his own. Nabiki had left his sapphire token hidden back in her room, in the same box she kept her ledger, cash box, and snacks in as she didn't want to either explain it or lose it at school.

"Oh, I can't wait to get to school this morning!" Akane grinned fiercely, smacking a fist into her palm and unintentionally interrupting her sister's train of thought.

"Akane, you better not be thinking of using your new powers on the horde," Nabiki admonished seriously. "You could severely injure someone, cripple them for life, or even kill them. Fire isn't a toy to toss around casually."

"Pft. I know THAT, Nabiki," Akane acknowledged with a slight pout. "I just feel more energetic, more alive, like I could take on twice as many boys every morning. For once, I'm actually looking forward to Kuno's little farce. I wasn't going to use my powers on anyone."

"Oh. Well, that's different," Nabiki admitted. "Enjoy yourself, then. Just try not to hurt any of the idiots too badly, all right?"

"I won't hurt them any more than they deserve to be," Akane agreed, nodding curtly. "You'd think they'd have learned by now, or that the school would have done something about it."

"That gang of idiots?" Nabiki cocked an eye at her sister. "It'd probably take some guy dating you who could defeat Kuno to make them stop, and even then I'd give them a week or so before giving up in the face of superior opposition." Nabiki cocked her head to the side as she thought about the matter some more. "Or not. After all, that pack of lemmings still confronts you every school day, and they've yet to get anywhere besides hurt for their trouble. As for the school doing something to stop it, dream on, little sister. Kuno's dad is the principle. Countering any bit of lunacy his son does might call him back from that trip of his. You haven't met him, Akane, he's more loopy than Kuno-baby - 'The Shooting of the Stars' is."

Akane shuddered. "Now THAT's scary!"

Inside Nabiki's school bag, Ranma took note of the conversation and decided to try to get details later. It sounded an awful lot like this Kuno guy was trying to soften Akane up by wearing her skills down with large numbers of unskilled opponents. And that whole deal about defeating Akane in order to date her would be honorable only if Akane herself had either set or agreed to the terms and if the challengers fought her one on one rather than as a horde.

Shifting around just a bit as he thought the matter through, Ranma touched something small, round, and smooth. He didn't even have time to be startled as the sapphire token, which had somehow made its way into Nabiki's bag, sucked him back into itself like so much smoke being pulled through a window by a fan...

O O O

Kasumi got up from her sewing project to answer the door. "Oh, Uncle Saotome! We were wondering when you would get back. We thought that you had only gone out to check the local temples and shrines yesterday." She wondered who the lady accompanying Genma was. She seemed nice enough, and very proper, although Kasumi wasn't sure how to take the wrapped katana the woman carried.

"My apologies, Kasumi," Genma bowed briefly. "I had intended to do so, but then I remembered another important matter that really should have been taken care of first. This is my wife, Nodoka. Nodoka, this is Soun Tendo's eldest daughter, Kasumi." The women bowed briefly as well upon being introduced to each other. "Is Ranma still out of his token? It's past time he was reacquainted with his mother."

"Oh, you just missed him! He went to school with my sisters," Kasumi replied with a smile. "If you would care to wait inside, I'm sure that they were planning on coming straight home after classes let out."

"That would be fine, Kasumi," Nodoka nodded as she removed her geta (wooden sandals) and placed them carefully in the getabako (shoe cupboard) of the genkan (entranceway).

O O O

R'hul lounged on his remaining flesh-bag seat, absently sipping from another bottle he had found in the kitchen. Soy sauce, this time. Not quite as enticing as the ketchup had been, but his chief minion's family had only the one bottle of that delightful substance. He'd have to eat something more substantial sooner or later, but he was good to go for a while yet, between having eaten well prior to crossing over to this world and the fragments of emotional horror and terror that his transformed seat was emitting. He could, of course, eat what the humans ate if it came down to that, but there was always something lacking in the essence of such creatures flesh that more intelligent animals such as humans almost always had. His kind could starve to death on full bellies if they limited themselves to non-sapient prey. Something to do with the quality of the souls and spirits involved he was sure.

And intelligent animals were more useful too, as they could be trained as slaves, pets, or other entertainment as well as simply raised as cattle. Under the proper conditions, they even raised themselves quite nicely, and one need only take care not to over-harvest the breeding stock. Sadly, such conditions never seemed to last for more than a few of his kind's generations, so sources of fresh stock were always welcome whenever they were discovered.

Unfortunately, they were almost always defended somehow as well, thanks to meddling gods and spirits, which was why R'hul was approaching his task with as much caution as he was. This was a new world, and from what little he had seen when poking around in the blurry, barely coherent, memories of the poor unenlightened animals that had become his local minions, it was one teeming with humans to the point of overpopulation!

With such a find, R'hul was assured instant fame and a spot in his race's history as a great explorer, even if his only role was to scout and set up the initial probing actions. With any luck, he'd be promoted, and possibly even granted a local command and maybe even a grant over a new estate in this world once it had been properly conquered.

In the meantime though, he had much to learn about the curious innovations the local animals had come up with. Technology was turning out to be a fascinating subject, but none of his minions could explain how any of this new magic worked. He'd have to find a technomancer and convince the mage to divulge the secrets of this new spellcraft.

R'hul chuckled evilly as he mentally noted the new task on his list of projects, and laughed out loud at how uncomfortable even this simple expression of humor made his minions. Such tasty little creatures, but no, he'd have to wait a while longer before properly indulging his appetite. For now, he simply instructed them to show him how to use this television scrying artifact once more. He had been rather intrigued when he found out that it could divulge local news reports as well as display stories...

O O O

Nabiki sat at her desk during class, absently listening to the teacher's droning lesson with half an ear as she passed Ranma's sapphire token over the pages of the textbook. Much to her surprise and consternation, she had found the sapphire disc rather than Ranma in her school bag as she had pulled out her notebooks and assignments prior to her first class. For the most part, it had remained there during the majority of her classes. However, it had inexplicably appeared in her gym locker while she was changing into the standard t-shirt and bloomers required for girls during physical education. And then, as she left the locker room to head out onto the field with the rest of her class, the sapphire disc had moved again, somehow getting into her snug shorts and against a very personal area! Nabiki blushed at the memory, and wondered if Ranma could tell where his token was.

Maybe the token had some way of staying near whichever girl Ranma favored the most. Except that Genma had managed to steal it from whoever Shampoo was, and the Chinese amazon was the only magical girl Ranma had empowered at the time. On the other hand, Ranma had expressed some serious reservations about how Shampoo treated him while he was in her village. Perhaps he found the treatment he received from the Tendo sisters better, although Nabiki wasn't too sure that Ranma appreciated the fact that Kasumi was using him as a plush cuddle-toy. Or maybe he did, considering how close their costumes fit. She'd have to ask him about that later, wherever he was.

Heck, Nabiki was surprised that Akane hadn't said anything about their costumes yet, considering that nothing the Power Rangers wore on their show fit like a second skin. Nabiki wasn't so sure about Sailor Moon as she hadn't gotten as deeply into that anime as either Kasumi or Akane had. Nabiki could feel somewhat embarrassed about the costumes' painted-on appearance now, but she remembered that she had not felt that way while actually wearing it. She had just been curious about her lack of embarrassment and how odd it had seemed that Akane had accepted the costumes without any apparent objections.

On further reflection, Nabiki thought that her little sister had been acting a bit different since gaining her fire powers from Ranma's token. Nothing major so far, but her little sister seemed more energetic and... alive than before. While Akane had always been generally more passionate to begin with, she had always seemed uncomfortable with that part of herself, and tended to repress it. For now, she seemed to have cast aside her objections to her tomboy nature, not so much embracing it yet as simply accepting it and moving on with her life.

Indeed, Akane had been a little rougher than normal with the horde, and Nabiki was positive that some would be dropping out of that particular bit of idiocy due to whatever remaining sense of self preservation they had left. Especially with the way Akane kept smiling happily as she wrenched limbs and twisted joints with just that much more enthusiasm than usual. Akane had definitely shifted from prey to predator this morning, and Nabiki thought that some of the less idiotic and or masochistic suitors would now show some signs of intelligence. Kuno wouldn't give up, of course, and neither would the more ardent of Akane's suitors, but there should be some drop-off at least due to this morning's disaster.

As Nabiki continued to absently scan Ranma's token across the textbook pages, she failed to notice the pale blue glow being emitted from the sapphire, nor how it briefly enveloped the whole book before being drawn back into the lens...

O O O

**END CHAPTER TEN.**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _Oh my! Not you too?_

(Once again suggested by Philip Jacobs)

Nabiki stalked into the kitchen as Akane returned from her morning jog, and bapped her elder sister softly on her head. "You broke Ranma again, didn't you?" She asked, presenting a dazed, somewhat smaller than usual, blue furred kangaroo rat to her sisters.

"Oh dear," Kasumi responded in a slightly contrite and apologetic tone. "I didn't think he had noticed. He didn't the night before..."

"What?" Akane asked, looking between her sisters, wondering what was going on.

"Big sister's been borrowing Ranma at night for her cuddle-buddy, just like a stuffed animal," Nabiki explained. A tiny smirk worked its way past her stern expression. "And without his knowledge or consent, either. Sis, I'm surprised at you."

"Well, he makes me feel safe and warm and free of worries and cares, just like when Mother was still with us." Kasumi explained in a more contrite and less appologetic tone than before.

"If that's the case, I think I'll ask him if he'd mind doing that particular favor for me some time," Nabiki retorted while Akane began to poke her dazed and limp sensei...

"Hey! He twitched!" Akane exclaimed excitedly as she grabbed Ranma and began shaking him with enthusiasm!

"Wha-a? Wha? I-I'm up! I'm u-up!" Ranma squeeked, voice stuttering with each shake. "What's up, Sparky?" He asked as Akane stopped shaking him and set him on the counter, where he expanded back up to about the size of a cat.

"Kasumi's been hogging your bedtime, Sensei! I want a turn, too!"

Ranma's eyes boggled as he stiffened up and fell over in a near catatonic state...

Nabiki reached over and bapped her younger sister's head, "Now YOU broke him!"


	12. Chapter Eleven

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

Philip Jacobs,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER ELEVEN:**

The walk home from Furinkan High was largely uneventful for Nabiki and Akane. Nabiki was carrying Ranma's token in her book bag, although it had a tendency to suddenly reposition itself to somewhere on her person if the it got too far away from her. Holding it directly was less disconcerting that having it suddenly appear in her panties or in one of the cups of her bra, but might draw unwanted attention if someone saw her holding a valuable gemstone disc larger than most coins. Although, to be fair, it had picked enough other places on her body to move to during the day that she was pretty sure that those two places had only been picked out of random chance as opposed to deliberate intent. Come to think of it, Nabiki realized that most people would probably assume that she had picked up a rather garish piece of costume jewelry somewhere, but that was still an image of herself that she was uncomfortable presenting to her friends and classmates.

The next mystery, after why the sapphire disc was doing this, was where had Ranma gone off to.

Nabiki could only assume that he was stuck in his gemstone prison again, although she was still at a loss as to how it had appeared in her book bag earlier. Especially as she was fairly certain that she had left it safely locked in the box with her account books, which was itself in the bottom drawer of her desk back home. Then again, with the way it moved from place to place whenever she got too far from it and didn't have it in her sight, she supposed that it could get just about anywhere it needed to. But why was it moving on its own now, and not earlier?

Putting the problem aside to solve later, Nabiki entered the Tendo home slightly ahead of Akane.

"We're Home!" the two called out together, not quite in sync with each other as they removed their shoes. They noticed an extra pair of well made but somewhat faded and worn wooden geta in the getabako right as Kasumi came into the hallway from the kitchen wearing a kimono.

"Welcome back, Nabiki, Akane! Please go up and get changed, Uncle Genma brought Ranma's mother here to see him. Isn't that nice?"

"Ranma's mother is here?" Nabiki asked, hoping that Ranma was indeed in his token, and that she could get him out. Once again, light shhone from the stone held in Nabiki's hand as she willed him to come forth, a bright aura that cast the hall in shades of blue. And again Nabiki's clothing and make up flowed into the sapphire lens as if it were all water.

Kasumi and Akane, now more familiar with what was happening, stepped smartly away from Nabiki so as to prevent any part of their own attire from becoming part of their sister's transformation process, but otherwise observed the event with rapt attention.

Nabiki herself was trying to memorize the sequence as it unfolded around her. As before, she floated weightlessly in the hallway, naked as the day she was born. What little she could see of her hair shifted to a deep blue hue, and she guessed (correctly) that her eyes became a vibrant green at about this time. As the physical transformation completed, she noted that she was now aware of her affinity to water and that she definitely felt more alert, ready to act, and yet calm at the same time. This time only some of the ribbons of water poured forth from the gem while the rest either condensed out of the air around her, or flowed from nearby sources of water, such as the flower vase on the little table near the phone. These ribbons of water slowly swirled around Nabiki's bare body, several of which already spiraling in on Nabiki's hands and feet forming snug gloves and boots, done in shades of blue, with black trim and reinforced with silver and stainless steel. As those were finishing up, several other ribbons began to paint a sleeveless halter top and bicycle shorts combo on her that left her midriff bare and fit like her own skin. There was a fitting in the steel and silver plate on the back of the right glove that seemed to be just the right size for the lens, and as before it popped out of her hand and flew into the setting on its own. Nabiki settled gently to the floor as gravity once again established it's hold on her, and one final thing came out of the lens and settled on the floor next to her.

He was still small, about the size of a cat or rabbit, covered in blue fur, and still looked kind of like a kangaroo rat.

"Um... How long was I in there this time?" Ranma asked. "I thought you left my token in your desk, but it bumped into me on the way to school and I got sucked into it like a bowl of udon!"

"That was this morning," Nabiki answered. "I didn't try to get you out while we were in school, which is apparently a good thing as it seems I would have blown our cover if I had," she continued, indicating her costume with a gesture.

"Indeed," Kasumi observed, "not to mention how improper the resulting display would be in mixed company."

"I'll say," Akane groused. "We'd never see the end of the perverts. Who came up with the transformation sequence and the costumes anyway?"

As if in response to the question, a screen of light was projected from the sapphire token on the back of Nabiki's right hand and suspended in mid air (as opposed to appearing on the wall like any sensible projection of light).

**QUERY: DESIGN SOURCE: EMPOWERMENT RITUAL; BATTLE REGALIA**

**QUERANT: WARRIOR OF FIRE**

**AUTHORIZATION: GRANTED**

**ACCESS LEVEL: BEGINNER**

**ANSWER ONE: Empowerment ritual selected in accordance to current popular mythos known to Magical Guardian Ranma.**

**REFERENCE: Majokko Henshin. Initial reference incomplete due to Magical Guardian Ranma's limited exposure to the subject material. Additional reference input made available by the Warrior of Earth upon initial empowerment. Cross-reference of appropriate elemental empowerment rituals (high power potential - female specific) resulted in the selection of the ritual set which most closely matched these criteria.**

**ANSWER TWO: Battle regalia selected from a pool of submissions made by various kami for the purpose of denoting elemental based warrior, in accordance to matches based on expectations and desires of the initial warrior to undergo the empowerment ritual, the Warrior of Earth, as filtered by the ZEUS Protocals. The currently selected battle regalia set is a compilation of the fifth submission by Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt), the 4,438th submission by Aphrodite (Goddess of Love), the 7,831st submission by Bastet (Goddess of Protection), the 50th submission by Susano-O No Mikoto (God of Storms), and the 9,776th submission by Urd (Goddess of the Past).**

"I come with an _instruction manual!?_" the diminutive magical rodent exclaimed in wide-eyed shock. "What am I? A freaking radio or something?"

Nabiki bit back her initial sardonic response and knelt down to look Ranma in the eyes. "Never, Ranma," she said carefully. "No matter what happened to you, you are a person first and foremost."

"Nabiki's right, Sensei" Akane agreed.

"Umm..." Kasumi murmured, flustered that she'd been visualizing Ranma in a doll house, wearing little outfits that she had already started designing patterns for. Best to not bring up the idea now, she decided. Maybe later, after Ranma was less upset...

Nabiki looked over the readout on the floating screen again. "Artemis, Aphrodite, Bastet, Susano-O, and Urd?" She commented with a cocked eyebrow. "Most of these don't even belong to the same pantheon, and only Susano-O is Japanese. What gives?"

**QUERY: ****REASON BEHIND MULTIPANTHEISTIC INVOLVEMENT IN MAGICAL GUARDIAN BEAST PROJECT.**

**QUERANT: WARRIOR OF WATER**

**AUTHORIZATION: DENIED**

**REASON: CLASSIFIED BEYOND CURRENT ACCESS LEVEL OF QUERANT.**

This answer had Ranma and the three Tendo sisters looking at each other in confusion.

"Ahem," Ranma coughed, and then straightened up, facing the screen. "Why did I have ta become a guardian beast? Couldn't I have done the same duties if I stayed human?" Much to the blue rodent's consternation, their was no change on the hovering display. "What? I'm not worthy of an answer? Is that it?"

"Why aren't you answering Ranma's questions?" Nabiki wondered.

**QUERY: REASON BEHIND DENIAL OF RESPONSE TO INQUIRIES INITIATED BY PERIPHERAL.**

**QUERANT: WARRIOR OF WATER**

**AUTHORIZATION: GRANTED**

**ACCESS LEVEL: BEGINNER**

**ANSWER: Prevention of cascading feedback loop between token and projected paripheral as both are actually components of the same entity.**

Before anybody could ponder over the metaphysical implications of this answer, Kasumi remembered the reason that started the whole exchange. "Oh my! Ranma, Uncle Genma brought Auntie Nodoka over to meet you all." She looked to her sisters, continuing, "I laid out a kimono for each of you on your beds, so go up and get changed." Her face fell a bit, and she bowed slightly to Ranma. "I'm sorry, but I haven't had time to finish a kimono for you yet, Ranma-san. I only had a chance to shop for the materials this morning. Nabiki, you had best go out to the dojo first and transform back before going upstairs. I'll take Ranma in to see his mother."

"Got it," Nabiki said as Akane started up the stairs. Before she could turn around to go outside though, Kasumi caught her eyes with a glance.

"I got a good look at your closet while I was looking for your spare kimonos, Nabiki," Kasumi admonished. "Please ask before borrowing things from either Akane or myself. And remember to return them when you are done."

Nabiki slumped her shoulders in defeat. "I'm sorry, Kasumi. I'll ask from now on."

"That's all right then," The eldest Tendo sister smiled. "Now go out and get changed so you can go up and get changed!"

"Er... Right!"

O O O

Shan Pu grinned as she gently placed her pack on the eastward bound train by way of levitating the rocks she had stowed inside. She then leaped gracefully in a high arc, landing on another freight car several cars further back from where she had set her pack down. All in all, she was pleased with her progress, and spotting this train heading east was only going to speed the whole trip to find her guardian even more. It was a long train, with a mixed load of lumber and ore, with a few box cars thrown in, and as she made her way forward, the young Nichieju counted herself exceptionally fortunate to have found such a train. While any eastbound train would have been a good find, a long train with a variety of cars such as this was far more likely to be traveling longer distances than a shorter one with just one or two types of cargo. It might even be heading all the way to a coastal port if she was lucky, although it was far more likely to be heading for a distribution center in the middle provinces first.

Still, every bit of travel she could get which allowed her to rest her powers while still moving in the desired direction helped, so even if the train stopped at the next town, it would have served its purpose as far as she was concerned.

Collecting her pack, Shan Pu pondered over which type of car to settle in. The ore cars were tempting, given her earth based powers, but both coal and iron ore were likely to stain her normal clothing, and she was planning to transform back for the bulk of the ride so that she didn't do so unexpectedly later on. The box beds, while invitingly private, were also too closed for her taste, as she wanted to be able to have an unobstructed view if she had to leave the train suddenly. That pretty much left the flat beds with the logs, so all she really needed was to select a load of lumber that wasn't too rough or sticky with sap.

Selecting a load of birch to settle on, mostly because she could easily recognize the distinctive pale gray bark at a distance and knew that the logs would be smooth and relatively comfortable to rest on, the dauntless Amazon made her way forward over the next three cars. Stopping midway along the top of the birch load, Shan Pu set her pack down so that it's weight held it in place between two bundles while leaving her access to the inside of her pack. Satisfied that the pack wasn't going to go anywhere, she stood up, faced into the wind to keep her hair out of her face, and allowed her power to disperse.

Her mystic uniform poured off of her body as it turned to sand. Too late, Shan Pu realized her mistake as she whirled around and tried to catch the tiny grains of sand as they were whipped away in the wind even as her skin, eyes, and hair resumed their natural coloration. The nude lavender haired girl stared helplessly as the sand reformed into her regular silks in mid-air on either side of the train, already a half mile back and receding rapidly as the train thundered on.

"Aiya!" the nubile naked Nichieju exclaimed in frustration. "That was one of my favorite sets of traveling outfits! How could I be so stupid? Next time I'll change back in a box car." Sighing in exasperation as the watched her silk blouse, trousers and panties flutter to the ground on either side of the tracks a mile or so back. She couldn't see her slippers at all, which didn't surprise her as they were dark and would have hit ground already being heavier than the rest of the outfit. All and all, the loss of the outfit was annoying, but not vital as she had other outfits in her pack. The slippers were the big loss, as she only had one spare pair, since she didn't expect to wear them out because she was doing the bulk of her traveling in her mystical warrior state. And she could always get new hair ornaments.

Although from the look of it, if she squinted her eyes...

"Lucky!" Shan Pu exclaimed, bouncing up and down with renewed cheer! She had spotted light glinting off of her hair ornaments, one only a few cars back and caught in the branches of another load of logs, and the other several more cars back resting on a load of coal. Wasting no time, she made her way back carefully off of the birch car and picked her way across a rough barked variety of oak logs for a couple of cars, only to find that the next load of logs was composed of chestnut trees. Which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the prickly husks of the chestnut pods, of which she could be sure at least a few remained in the load to catch unwary skin. Such as hers, considering that she'd been in too much of a hurry to rescue her hair ornaments to bother getting dressed first. On the other hand, she'd only get minor scratches at worst, while losing another outfit to torn silk right after losing the first to bad planning would have been a bit much, so she shrugged it off and continued to make her way sans attire until she reached the first hair ornament.

Carefully plucking the polished red beads from the chestnut branch the ornament had caught on, Shan Pu took a moment to tie it in place before continuing on past another flatbed of chestnut logs, and then three more loads of logs from some tree she didn't immediately identify that had rough bark and sticky sap, and... Okay, she tentatively decided that it was some sort of fir or other evergreen tree, fortunately of one of the blunt leafed varieties and opposed to one of the sharp needled types. Yet another good reason to have left her remaining silks in her pack, although she now had to admit to herself that she had executed relatively poor planning so far on her trip. If she had thought to pack some sturdy outfits made from courser fabrics, she could be wearing one of them and not be worried about ruining the material. As it was, the only thing saving her next outfit from being ruined in her effort to retrieve her hair ornaments was her own thoughtless haste.

Maybe Great Grandmother was right about her guardian beast needing a champion capable of being more than just the best warrior of her generation in the village...

Shan Pu shook away the thought, as yet unwilling to concede the point, and she picked her footing across the first ore car until she reached the next one back, both of which were loads of coal. Upon reaching her prize, the young air-clad woman was pleasantly surprised to find not just one, but both lost slippers not more than ten feet away. Jubilant, she quickly donned the slippers then held up the other pair of red beads like a hard won trophy as she stood tall and proud of even this minor stroke of fortune!

The rising and fading sound of whoops, cheers, whistles, and cat calls drew Shan Pu's attention to the fact that the train was currently passing through a small settlement, of which a good portion of the population was enjoying the momentary view of her bare body as she stood like an idiot on top of a load of coal. Waving back at her impromptu audience, Shan Pu made note to try not to pass through this particular region when it came time to make her way back to Joketsuzoku. Once the train was past the outermost parts of the community she permitted her self to blush as she tied her other hair ornament in place.

Sure, she had nothing to be ashamed of as far as her appearance, and the Nichieju were hardly body shy, but there were limits. With luck, her Great Grandmother would never hear of this incident...

Oh, who was she kidding. She was _doomed_. Either Ku Lon was following her trail, or she had sent someone else to track where her great granddaughter went. One way or another the village was going to hear of this, and then her Father would have her across his knees applying a paddle to her bare hindquarters until Great Grandmother told him to stop. The only reason her Great Grandmother wouldn't be doing it herself was the fact that advanced age had reduced her stature and the Elder no longer had either a suitable sized lap, nor leverage to wield the paddle properly if Shan Pu tried to fit across what little lap her Great Grandmother had remaining.

Honestly, the Elder sometimes treated her as if she were still a child of twelve or fourteen and not a warrior of sixteen full years of age. Shan Pu was no longer some flat-chested neophyte, she was the village champion! She won the tournament and everything, and was even able to summon the guardian out of its stone when the fat fool brought it to Joketsuzoku! And her Great Grandmother STILL treated her like she was a mere child. What else did she need to become an adult in the eyes of the Elders?

Slumping her shoulders in defeat, Shan Pu turned around and made her way forward across the freight cars again until she reached her pack, then started rummaging through it for another outfit.

O O O

Nodoka's outward calm belied her inner turmoil as she waited for the two younger Tendo daughters to finish getting dressed so that they could present themselves and her son to her. She had heard them announce their return home, and the eldest sister presumably greeted them at the door and gave them instructions before returning to preparing tea and snacks for everyone. She had some idea of what to expect when she saw Ranma, as Genma had described his current appearance, which was confirmed by Soun, with additional information from Kasumi who had mentioned that Ranma could change his size and appearance somewhat. Ranma could still speak, unlike the panda form of Genma's curse, and from the account of yesterday's encounter with the enemy (as relayed to Nodoka from what Soun and Kasumi had been told afterwards), he remained cunning, bold, and effective despite his new form.

Kasumi quietly returned from the kitchen with the tea service tray. She knelt to serve more tea and set out the rice crackers. "Ranma, Nabiki, and Akane will be in shortly. I would have brought Ranma in now, but he wanted to wait for my sisters to be ready."

"That's quite all right, Kasumi," Nodoka assured pleasantly, keeping her stress from her voice. Soon, she would see her baby boy for the first time in ten years. A son horribly fated to have his humanity stolen from him by whatever spirits governed Jusenkyo. A son deemed worthy of becoming a guardian beast by the gods.

A son to be proud of.

A son she feared would never lead a normal life.

A son who stood proudly on the right shoulder of a kimono-clad girl with pageboy hair as the other two Tendo daughters entered the family room from the hallway.

"Hi, Mom," Ranma waved casually at the woman seated by his father.

Despite all of her mental preparation for this very moment, Nodoka fainted at the sight of the large blue mouse that was her son...

O O O

Nabiki turned her head and looked at Ranma as he stood statue-like on her shoulders. Wait, forget statue-like. He WAS a statue now! One apparently rough hewn from some blue-gray stone with a course grain. His entire body expressed such dejection, such utter despair and heartbreak...

"Ranma..." the middle Tendo sister carefully lifted the literally petrified guardian off of her shoulder and held him to her bosom. "It's all right..."

"She hates me!" The stone rodent suddenly cried out. "Momma hates me!" With only a brief struggle to get out of Nabiki's grip, Ranma dove into his token.

"Oh my..."

"Well, that went well..."

"Akane," Nabiki cast an irritated glance at her younger sister, "shush!"

O O O

**END CHAPTER ELEVEN**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _A Proud and Noble Heritage._

Contributed by Philip Jacobs...

"That's quite all right, Kasumi," Nodoka assured pleasantly, keeping her stress from her voice. Soon, she would see her baby boy for the first time in ten years. A son horribly fated to have his humanity stolen from him by whatever spirits governed Jusenkyo. A son deemed worthy of becoming a guardian beast by the gods.

A son to be proud of.

A son she feared would never lead a normal life.

A son who stood proudly on the right shoulder of a kimono-clad girl with pageboy hair as the other two Tendo daughters entered the family room from the hallway.

"Hi, Mom," Ranma waved casually at the woman seated by his father.

The tableau held for a long moment, as his mother gazed blankly in his direction. Then, she shuddered and seemed to collapse inward on her navel as the deep bell-tone of a temple chime shivered the air in the room. Her body shimmered, shrunk, and was replaced by a form that left everyone in the room staring in shock. The dark brown-furred creature had the body of a rabbit, a head vaguely reminiscent of a cat with massive tufted sweeps of oversized ears with a delicate shell-pink inner lining, limpid eyes of deepest sapphire, and centered on the forehead was a diamond-shaped jewel of ruby-red hue.

There was an indrawn sighing sound, as everyone in the room drew a simultaneous breath in surprise, and then Kasumi broke the tension with a quiet, "Oh my!" Moving with a speed that left everyone in the room wondering just how the eldest Tendo daughter managed it, she scooped up Nodoka and cuddled her. With a happy smile, she looked at Nabiki. "Ranma gets it from his mother. She feels just as good!"

Houses near the Tendo home shook briefly from the vibrations caused by the near universal face-fault.

(Points from Philip Jacobs for identifying the source of Nodoka's Guardian Beast form.)


	13. Chapter Twelve

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

Philip Jacobs,

And some guy named Steve.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

**CHAPTER TWELVE:**

Nodoka awakened to the sight of her husband and his friend watching over her, while the three Tendo daughters were apparently trying to coax Ranma out of hiding from something on the back of one of the middle daughter's hands. Sitting up, somewhat embarrassed to have fainted at the sight of her transformed son, she took a closer look and saw the sapphire lens Genma had told her about. Of the three sisters trying to coax Ranma out of the token, only two were still wearing kimonos. The third one was... apparently absent, replaced with a blue haired girl with green eyes and similar features. It couldn't possibly be Soun's middle daughter, they looked nothing alike!

Other than hair-styles... Except Nabiki was a _brunette_, not whatever one called somebody who had blue hair.

And the facial features seemed to match up closely enough... Except Nabiki had _brown_ eyes, not green ones.

And surely a traditional man like Soun would never let one of his daughters wear an outfit that may as well have been _painted_ on... Except that Genma had described the outfits that Nabiki, Akane, and that Chinese girl Shampoo had when they were empowered, and other than how tight it fit, the strange girl's outfit was a dead ringer for what her husband had told her.

"OW!" both hands going to the growing knot on his head, Genma asked "What you do that for?"

Nodoka turned from checking the sheath of the family honor blade (the travel wrapping had been set aside earlier in the day, after lunch when she and Genma were telling Kasumi a bit about the Saotome family history and how they had been permitted to retain their sword after the Meiji restoration) for damage and glared at her husband.

"You never told me how tight those outfits were, you letch!" Nodoka gestured at Nabiki, who looked up at the older woman with irritation. "And who is this girl, anyway? I thought you said that Nabiki was the one in Blue? This girl looks nothing like her!"

"Um..." Soun tried to defend his friend (verbally, of course, he wasn't stupid enough to try to interfere in a domestic dispute physically) "Actually, Nabiki looks almost exactly the same as she always does, other than her hair and eye colors." Soun was a bit flustered at Nodoka's denial that Nabiki was, in fact, Nabiki. Especially considering that he had spent the better part of the day showing his friend's wife pictures of his little girls, and Nabiki's empowered form really wasn't all that different from the one she was born with. Sure, if you weren't familiar with her appearance, you might not realize she was the same girl, but those photographs were quite recent and they had spent much of the day looking at them.

"How can you _say_ that?" Nodoka asked incredulously. "She doesn't look _anything_ like Nabiki! She was brunette, with brown eyes... And she was wearing a kimono! Not... Not that painted on costume!"

"I transformed in an attempt to draw Ranma back out of his token," Nabiki pointed out in irritation as she glared at Nodoka. "He just jumped right back into it after seeing you again. He thinks you hate him."

"Yeah," Akane agreed worriedly. "Sensei seems to be very upset about how you fainted like that. Maybe I should touch the token... Maybe out in the yard or something."

"Oh, sure, and have the neighbors call the fire department on us when they see the pillar of flame."

"Maybe I should try," Kasumi said, a bit uncertainly, bringing the burgeoning argument to a halt as nearly everyone looked at her. Nodoka just looked at each of them in confusion, wondering why they all thought the blue haired girl was Nabiki. Even though she did look kind of like her...Nodoka's head began to hurt.

"Are you sure you want to try this, Kasumi?" Soun asked his eldest daughter with great concern. "You might not be able to activate Ranma's token, and if you do..."

"If you draw an Element, you'll be one of Ranma's Magical Girls," Genma added soberly. "There are five other elements yet to be drawn, and if you have an affinity to one of them, Ranma will be obligated to teach you how to fight."

"It won't be easy," Nabiki put in carefully, looking Kasumi straight in the eyes. "You heard what happened to Akane when we fought that youma. Sure, she got better, but that had to have hurt a lot, no matter what little sister says."

"Don't listen to her," Akane waved off Nabiki's comment. "The power-up is great, and I was more winded than anything else."

"Akane... You had a _freaking_ stop sign _**rammed through your heart**_!" Nabiki snapped, trying to keep tears from forming in her eyes at the memory. "I thought... I thought you were dead..."

"Oh my..." Kasumi wavered hesitantly. "Maybe I'll try later." She was seriously considering going ahead and making the attempt to see if she would draw an elemental power, partly because she thought that it would be neat to be a magical girl, even with the possibility of having to fight youma, but mostly because that would give her a better excuse to spend more time with the cute magical mascot. Surely Ranma would stay home while Nabiki and Akane were at school if he had to train her. Except that those particular reasons for becoming a magical girl seemed to be far too selfish to Kasumi, so perhaps she should hold off until she could be sure of her motives...

"_Ahem_," Nodoka coughed politely, drawing attention back to herself. "I'm really sorry I overreacted. I don't hate Ranma... I couldn't hate him! How could he even think that?"

Genma did not mention the seppuku pledge that he and Nodoka had burned the previous night. Partly because neither Ranma nor the Tendos ever knew about it, but mostly because he didn't want to be hit with the scabbard of his wife's katana again.

"Well, he may have been putting up a good front," Nabiki relented and proceeded to present her hypothesis, "but Ranma's been under a lot of stress ever since the spirits of Jusenkyo turned him into a Guardian Beast. Just a short while ago, he was wondering why he couldn't do the same job as a human. When you fainted, I think the stress caused him to mistake your reaction as rejection, and he was already upset from earlier, and nervous about meeting you on top of that."

"Well, I suppose that's reasonable," Nodoka admitted guiltily. "Now... who are you again?"

"I'm Nabiki Tendo..." the blue haired girl responded with half-lidded eyes and a tone of frustration.

O O O

Kasumi had eventually left to start preparing dinner. A task that Nodoka tried to insist on helping with, except that she was dissuaded from doing so in favor of being present in case they managed to coax Ranma to come out. Soun and Genma had migrated to the shogi board long since, and Nabiki and Akane were alternately trying to get Ranma to come out of his token, or to get Nodoka to believe that Nabiki was actually Nabiki.

Oddly enough, the more they had Nodoka convinced of this fact, the greater the Saotome Matriarch's headache grew, while allowing the headache to recede seemed to cause her to forget who Nabiki was. All in all, the matter was proving to be very frustrating for all involved.

"Look," Nabiki stated, just short of snapping at Nodoka out of sheer aggravation, "Why don't I just transform back and show you that I'm Nabiki? Would that convince you?"

"If it's true, that should be satisfactory," Nodoka agreed primly, still wondering who this blue haired floozy in the painted on costume really was. There was no way that the girl could be one of Soun's daughters. Happily, the headache she had been fighting all afternoon seemed to be going into remission once again. Maybe it would stay away this time.

Without another word, Nabiki let go of her power, allowing it to drain away back into wherever it went when she wasn't an elemental warrior. As the power faded, her costume turned into fine mist which lifted off of her body and dispersed across an area about ten feet across and centered on herself. The sapphire token lens which had been on the back of her right hand floated over to settle on the table in front of her. While this was happening the odd hair and eye colors seemed to flow away, to be replaced as they went with Nabiki's natural colors. After a moment, the various pieces of Nabiki's spare kimono and undergarments were reformed out of the mist.

In mid air...

In random locations throughout the ten foot radius dome the mist had taken up, leaving Nabiki naked and her clothes scattered across the room.

Nodoka blinked, reached up, and plucked a white tabi (split-toed sock) off of her head, where it had apparently settled. She now wondered what happened to the blue haired girl, and why did these articles of clothing appear in mid-air as if formed out of the mist effect she disappeared in? And what was Nabiki doing coming into the family room completely naked? Nabiki couldn't have been the woman with the blue hair and green eyes all along, could she? Although Soun was right about one point, his daughter really did look a lot like the other girl after all, other than hair and eye color. Damn... Her headache was back, even worse than before...

"Are you all right?" Nabiki asked, concerned with the fact that Ranma's mother had suddenly turned pale, and looked to be a bit out of sorts. "Mrs. Saotome?"

Akane, who had moved to pick up articles of her sister's kimono, glanced at Sensei's mother as she gathered the errant article from where it lay, and noticed that the woman didn't look at all well.

"_Mrs. Saotome!_" Akane and Nabiki cried out together as Nodoka groaned and passed out.

Again, Genma was there to stop his wife from hitting the floor, accompanied by the patter of falling shogi tiles from an overturned board. Soun blinked. He had barely managed to rise from his seat, and Genma was all the way across the room. The Tendo patriarch wondered for a moment if he had actually fallen that far out of practice since the days that he and his friend had trained together? He, perhaps correctly, took the fact that Genma had overturned their game board despite the fact that he was winning at the time as a sign that something was seriously wrong.

O O O

Akane thought fast as her Sensei's father followed hers to the downstairs guestroom, gently carrying his unconscious wife. Nabiki had rushed straight into the kitchen to either tell Kasumi or call for medical attention, or maybe both, leaving her alone in the family room with Sensei's token. Akane moved back to the table, positioned herself kneeling before Sensei's token, and reached over to touch it.

"_Please_ come out, Sensei! Something is wrong with your mother!" Akane pleaded, bracing herself for the worst and hoping against hope that she didn't burn down the house.

She was pleasantly surprised that there was no raging inferno.Instead, she was lifted up and back, uncurling from her seated position to floated weightlessly, as her kimono and the rest of her garments, plus several pieces of Nabiki's kimono which she had forgotten to put down, burnt away into glowing embers which floated up for a moment before spiraling into the sapphire lens. Her hair shifted to a bright red hue while her eyes became a burning amber. Then ribbons of fire shot out of the gem, slowly swirling around Akane's bare body. Several ribbons spiraled in on Akane's hands and feet forming snug gloves and boots, done in shades of orange and yellow, with red trim and reinforced with copper and polished brass. As those were finishing up, several other ribbons began to paint a sleeveless halter top and bicycle shorts combo on her that left her midriff bare and fit like her own skin. There was the empty fitting in the brass and copper plate on the back of the right glove that still seemed to be just the right size for the lens. Akane made no move to try to put in in place, and the token remained on the table...

Which suddenly collapsed under the weight of several hundred pounds of blue fur coated muscle as eight feet of giant saber-toothed and gorilla-armed kangaroo rat came out of the token so fast that Akane's eyes crossed trying to make sense of it.

"**What happened, Sparky?**" Ranma demanded, looming over Akane and speaking with a deep and gravelly base voice that sent shudders through her bones, so unlike the cute, high pitched one he normally had. "**Where's Mom? What's wrong with her?**" The freshly repaired floor groaned under the giant rodent's weight.

Akane, in the unenviable position of having what she estimated as a quarter ton or more of agitated predator interrogating her, tried her best not to squeak like something small and tasty as she responded. "Our fathers t-took her into the downstairs guestroom where your father is staying." She was very relieved when he moved away and headed into the hall.

"_Damn_, Sensei's _scary_ in that form!"

Taking a moment to calm down, Akane picked up her Sensei's token and followed him out into the hall, diverting her course to enter the kitchen even as he entered the downstairs guestroom. Kasumi seemed to be in the process of wrapping ice cubes up in a cloth napkin while Nabiki, still naked, took one look at Akane and hung up the phone before anyone answered on the other end.

"Did Ranma come out of his token?" Nabiki asked as she looked her sister over. "Should I be calling the fire department instead?"

"The family room is fine, Nabiki," Akane groused. "And Nezumi-'zilla..."

Akane was interrupted by her father's scream of terror, followed by Genma's bellow of "Calm down, Tendo! That's just Ranma!"

"Is in the downstairs guestroom," Nabiki finished with a smirk, shaking her head. Akane, remembering Aunty Nodoka's main repeated objection to Nabiki's costume, compared her sister's bare body with what she had been wearing moments ago. She honestly didn't see what the big deal was, as it just didn't seem all that important to her, although she objectively understood that she was normally far more concerned about physical modesty than she currently felt.

"Oh my," Kasumi paused for a moment, then handed the wrapped ice to her youngest sister, who was at least dressed, even if much of her costume looked to be as painted on as Nabiki's had been. "Please take this in for Aunty Saotome, Akane. I'll be in in a moment to see if we should still call for Dr. Tofu or not, but I really must get back to dinner before it burns or starts a fire."

"Right," Akane responded with a nod. "Here's Sensei's token, Nabiki," she continued, handing the sapphire lens to her sister before turning to enter the hallway again.Nabiki accepted the token, and was almost in the hallway herself as she followed Akane, when she heard her elder sister cough politely as if to gain her attention.

"Yes? You wanted something, Kasumi?" Nabiki asked, her bare body framed by the doorway as she turned back.

"Nabiki..." Kasumi hesitated for a moment, then continued. "Shouldn't you either power up or get some clothes from your room to wear before attending to Aunty Saotome?"

Nabiki blushed, realizing that she had completely forgotten that she was naked in the confusion. "Um... I'll be right back down as soon as I dress!" She bit out, flustered at her lapse. "I'll meet you in the guestroom!" And thus, Nabiki turned again and ran down the hall!

O O O

For the second time, Nodoka Saotome found herself waking up in the Tendo home. Thankfully, whatever had been causing her headache seemed to be gone again, although she had thought so before, and had been stricken down by its sudden resurgence mere moments later, so perhaps it was time to see a doctor...

The very first things she saw upon opening her eyes were her husband and a very large, very muscular, and absolutely adorable (in a shaggy and somewhat monstrous kind of way) blue furred shikagami, both of whom were looking worriedly down at her from either side. Under their caring gaze, Nodoka felt safe and secure, protected from the pain and worries of the world. In particular, under the watchful eyes of the guardian beast she knew to be her son, she knew she could be a mother again, reliving all those lost years her child had been missing as if he had never gone away in the first place. Her little boy, gone for so long, had returned to her at long last. All of her worries and doubts about his loss of humanity, and how she would get grandchildren when her son was the wrong species left her for this pristine moment as she reached up and touched one of Ranma's broad shoulders.

"Welcome home, my son..."

"**Mom...**" Ranma looked down at his mother, tension leaving him as she appeared to be all right. Nabiki, now wearing a casual shorts and halter combo, smiled up at him from where she was sitting with her family around the resting Saotome matriarch. Kasumi, oddly, seemed to be torn between smiling for the joy of Ranma's reunion with his mother, and giving Nabiki dirty looks for taking the spot beside Ranma. She rather strongly suspected that Nabiki had skipped some rather essential items of apparel to have gotten back downstairs so quickly, but mixed company wasn't the place to bring Nabiki's lack of underwear up.

Akane, still in her magical girl costume, was looking at her father, who was crying tears of joy. All in all, she was more relieved that he was showing signs of what amounted to normal behavior for him than irritated at his regression to emotional mood swings. Still, it had been nice while it lasted, and perhaps their father would continue to grow past whatever was causing the problem.

Nodoka blinked as Ranma suddenly popped down to about the size of a cat..."EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" squealed the older woman with delight, as she sat up and snatched the azure rodent out of the air before he had a chance to hit the floor! "You are _sooooooo_ cute! Yes you are! Yes you are!"

Hair toinged out of place on the heads of the various Tendo family members sitting around Nodoka as they watched an otherwise mature and refined woman giggle, laugh, and cuddle the somewhat alarmed looking blue kangaroo rat as she swayed back and forth. Genma had, naturally, face-faulted rather painfully to one side, and one of his legs was still twitching in the air.

"Bu...bu... but that's _not fair!_" Kasumi looked over the scene, tears forming in her eyes moments before breaking into a torrent of sobs. "_I_ wanted to do that! _WAAAAAAAAAAH!_"

As everyone paused and looked at the eldest Tendo daughter, Akane thought for a moment and came up with her own observation."That HAS to come from your side of the family, Dad. I don't remember Mom ever doing that..."

O O O

**END CHAPTER TWELVE**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** Cat scratch panic!

"Mom..." Ranma looked down at his mother, tension leaving him as she appeared to be all right. Nabiki, now wearing a casual shorts and halter combo, smiled up at him from where she was sitting with her family around the resting Saotome matriarch. Kasumi, oddly, seemed to be torn between smiling for the joy of Ranma's reunion with his mother, and giving Nabiki dirty looks for taking the spot beside Ranma. She rather strongly suspected that Nabiki had skipped some rather essential items of apparel to have gotten back downstairs so quickly, but mixed company wasn't the place to bring Nabiki's lack of underwear up.

Akane, still in her magical girl costume, was looking at her father, who was crying tears of joy. All in all, she was more relieved that he was showing signs of what amounted to normal behavior for him than irritated at his regression to emotional mood swings. Still, it had been nice while it lasted, and perhaps their father would continue to grow past whatever was causing the problem.

Nodoka blinked as Ranma suddenly popped down to about the size of a cat..."EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" squealed the older woman with delight, as she sat up and snatched the azure rodent out of the air before he had a chance to hit the floor! "You are sooooooo cute! Yes you are! Yes you are!"

For a moment, nothing else happened other than a mother horribly embarrassing her child...

Then Nodoka was tackled by Kasumi!"MINE! He's MY cuddle-buddy! He gave me back MY childhood first!"Sweat drops formed on the heads of Soun, Genma, Nabiki, and Akane as they watched two grown woman engage in a cat-fight over a rodent...


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

Howard Melton,

Lord Talon,

Nevermore,

Philip Jacobs,

Some guy named Steve,

And some other guy named William.

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfic has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanfics, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

TAGS: Alternate Universe,Humor,Drama,Action/Adventure,Lime.

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN:**

Kei Murphy pulled her car, an unremarkable plain white compact city car, up to the police barricade, and presented her badge and papers to the officer in charge. By preference, she would have rather had her red and black sports model, or perhaps a motorcycle, but she understood the principles for flying underneath general notice. She also understood the value of not having to use her own vehicles in a potentially hazardous situation. Thus she drove a nondescript, commonplace vehicle, to offset her own exotic appearance and save on her insurance premiums. Being a half-gaijin Japanese woman with red hair, caramel skin, green eyes, and generous... assets... drew enough attention to her without compounding the problem by having a memorable mode of transportation as well.

The police officer manning the barrier on this end of the street inspected the ID and the papers, compared the photo to the woman driving the car, and called it in for confirmation. A casual inspection while comparing her to her photo and description would have left him guessing that she was actually a teenager with a fake ID and papers if it weren't for the fact that he had been advised in advance that the woman would look younger than she was. She was dressed more suited to her actual age though, in a black business pantsuit, with matching blazer over a cream vest, which displayed only an acceptable amount of cleavage (as opposed to the scandalous amount his own daughter kept trying to get away with). After getting confirmation back from his radio, he gave the ID and papers back to the woman."Here you go, Miss Murphy."

"Thank you, Officer. I'll be on my way then," Kei responded and then drove on into the disaster area which encompassed several city blocks worth of Nerima. From the devastation she saw, only the low numbers of the injured, a single missing person, and a complete lack of deaths kept this from being a total disaster. Even the few untouched buildings only raised questions about the local media's initial spin of freak weather conditions. Unfortunately, that spin was cast aside as soon as video tapes and photographs hit the TV and radio stations with proof of a demon attack and the magical girls who responded to it. Which was about mid afternoon today, well before even the police could possibly talk to more than three quarters of even those people whom they were positive had witnessed the incident, let alone everyone who might have. On top of that, there was the footage from the traffic news copter that had diverted itself when the crew noticed the dust plumes, which showed most of the fight between the creature and the second magical girl, with a few interruptions as the copter maneuvered to see around buildings.

Which meant, as far as Kei knew, that only the police, the government, and the two magical girls knew how the fight really ended. The private security footage from the gravel lot, initially set up because of the unusual number of martial arts duels that happened in and around Nerima, showed that it wasn't actually the girl the media dubbed as "Inferno" who killed the creature and saved her partner "Tsunami".It was their so-called mascot...

O O O

In due course, the Tendo and Saotome families settled down for dinner in the family room. After, of course, Ranma replaced the table he had crushed.Most of the meal passed without anyone talking. While it wasn't one of Kasumi's best efforts considering the interruption, the pork cutlets with tonkatsu sauce had turned out well enough, and no one said a word until they had finished their second helping (or in Genma's case, thirds).

''Nice, Ranma, this is very nice," Nabiki commented as she touched the table her fingers tracing the elegant carvings and caressing the highly polished sandstone surfaces. The table appeared to be the master work of a great craftsman and yet she had watched Ranma draw the sand from the ground, "growing" the table from the Earth itself scant minutes before dinner had been served. Granted, the table itself was heavy enough to make the floor groan with its weight, but Ranma also solved that problem with some stone pilings under the floor beams of the house.

"Well, I did sorta break the table Kasumi and Mr. Tendo bought to replace the one Akane's first transformation destroyed..."

"Please feel free to break anything you like, Ranma!" Nabiki stated with a barely controlled smirk. "If this is the quality of replacement materials you put up..."

"Nabiki," Akane interrupted sharply with half-lidded eyes, "I'm sure that Sensei has _better_ things to do than wrecking our house just so he can replace it with better stuff"

Nodoka looked over at the redhead with the painted-on orange and yellow outfit, "As much as I appreciate the sentiment, who are you again?"

"Not _this_ again," Nabiki grumbled, putting her face in her palm in exasperation while Akane looked at the older woman with a blank expression.

"Oh, right," Ranma chirped from his position on the new table. "You guys activated your identity protection enchantments earlier. I'll just add Mom to the... what was it called? Exemption list?" The largish blue rodent tilted his head, then shook it as if to clear it. "There, done. Whatever it's called, Mom's on it just like Pops, Mr. Tendo, Kasumi, and the Nichieju of Joketsuzoku."

Nodoka sighed in relief as the migraine that had spiked again disappeared just as suddenly. Now she had no problems connecting the two Tendo sisters with the two costumed magical girls. Genma also relaxed after a tense moment when he was concerned that Nodoka would collapse again. Instead, he quietly reached over and touched her arm in a reassuring manner, and was rewarded with a gentle smile.

"Nichieju?" Nabiki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Chinese Amazons," Ranma replied. "Shampoo's people. She's proud of the fact that she could draw an element and become a demon hunting warrior, so she wants her whole village to know who she is. She apparently doesn't care who else knows though, because she never activated her identity protection."

"So..." Nabiki started her next question slowly. "Can you tell us why we _don't seem to care about physical modesty_ while we're powered-up? I transformed back with our fathers in the room, even though I _knew_ my clothes wouldn't appear on me. That's not something I'd care to repeat, _especially_ in public."

"The Magic Eight Ball says: Not a clue, sorry," Ranma responded, wondering about that himself now that she brought it up. He didn't even know why didn't he have a problem with those costumes himself considering that he knew darn well that such a display in their unpowered states kept leaving him flustered and stunned. As it was, at the moment he was more concerned about his mother. She seemed to be fine with him now, but her initial reaction still had him feeling disturbed.

"Why didn't that little screen show up?" Akane asked, remembering the nifty projection that popped up when they got home.

As light shot forth from the sapphire resting on the table by Nabiki's spot, the middle Tendo daughter immediately thought of at least a dozen or so interface protocols that would be better than the haphazard ones that were apparently already in place for the holographic terminal, wishing strongly that Ranma's token was using one of them instead.

**QUERY: REASON FOR INTERMITTENT SERVICE WITH USER INTERFACE.**

**QUERANT: WARRIOR OF FIRE**

**AUTHORIZATION: GRANTED**

**ACCESS LEVEL: BEGINNER**

**ANSWER: Ther per...**

**_INTERRUPTION_...**

**COMMAND IMPLEMENTED: INTERFACE REFORMAT**

**INITIATED BY: WARRIOR OF WATER**

**QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: CURRENT CHOSEN CHAMPION OF RANMA**

**AUTHORIZATION: GRANTED**

**_REFORMATTING..._**

Everyone looked over at Nabiki, who blinked in shock as she read the floating screen. After a moment, the screen blanked out, then disappeared.

When her younger sister leveled an exasperated look at her, the only response Nabiki's could think of was, "Oops?"

O O O

R'hul was busy preparing his next report for transmission.

He had been quite pleased with his minions when they tuned the oracle cube to a heralds' guild dedicated to disseminating local events to the masses earlier. H'rys had encountered and fought two elementally empowered females shortly after it started its probing attack on the local population. Inferno and Tsunami were apparently new to their powers and previously unknown to the local heralds' guild. Inferno was the one to actually kill H'rys if the evidence was any indication, but the first battle was nearly a disaster for the two females. No other allies had shown up, and they had not battled H'rys simultaneously, indicating that they hadn't been trained enough to work together yet.

The real prize had been the images of Inferno and Tsunami reverting to their unpowered states. There had been no disguise field enchantment, and several of his minions immediately identified one of the two elemental warriors as a popular female at their educational crèche. This had been cause for a minor celebration and R'hul had sent his minions out to buy ketchup and soy sauce while he started his report.

Initial Start Up Cost: None. Local feral humans chanced upon viable summoning beacon, with no protective seals or wards - no bargain or contract is required to begin operations.Initial Gains: Seven local minions, two quality bio-bag seats.

Initial Expenditures: Reversion of one bio-bag seat to maintain cover. H'rys defeated and killed during initial probing attack.

Empowered Defenders: Check. At least two; female; inexperienced; element based - fire and water; power levels low; likely total set of four - Fire, Water, Earth, and Air.

Guardian Beast: Check. Mascot/mentor; small size; apparently noncombatant advisor; threat level deemed to be inconsequential.

Incidental Enchantments: None noted.

R'hul pondered what else to put down in his report as the oracle cube droned on...

"In related news, one prominent local resident had this to say:"

"I, Tatewaki Kuno, the _Blue Thunder of Furinkan High_, do hereby extend my noble invitation to the twin goddesses _Inferno_ and _Tsunami_, in order that they may celebrate their first glorious victory! The affair will be held at Furinkan High, after school tomorrow, and the entire student body is invited!"

R'hul blinked as he turned his head towards the oracle cube. Then he grinned. Summoning his minions so that he could plumb them for information of the designated educational crèche, the scout began to plan the next probing attack based on the information at hand.

Better bait at this point of time simply could not be had, so this opportunity had to be seized now before the local defenders gained too much experience. After all, considering that he was only a minion himself, he was only authorized to call in so much help at any one time without having to give too many details to his commanders, or he risked losing his chance at advancement and potential governorship. Of course, he risked that if he gave out too little information too...

O O O

Kei Murphy slapped a hand to her face as she turned off the news.

It was bad enough that the incident had taken place in _broad daylight_, contrary to every other demon or youma attack in the past half century that she knew of. It was worse that the invading demon didn't match anything out of _local_ myth, resembling something more akin to a horror from a _Lovecraft novel_ than any oni or youma of Japanese, or even Asian legend. So much so that the agency was already calling them C'thulhoids. No, the absolute worst thing that could happen at this point was just broadcast on local television.

_The date, time, and bait for a trap that was sure to be planned for the neophyte magical girls and their guardian beast._

Right now, there were only two of what would probably end up being a set of five elemental magic based defenders, plus heavy fire support from their guardian beast. Fire and Water, with Earth, Wind, and Wood yet to come forward. That, however wasn't the main problem. The main problem was that whether the two girls showed up or not, there was a high probability of a demon attack at Furinkan High sometime tomorrow, and the agency did not currently have the authority to shut any school down for even one day because until now all known demon attacks had been at night. The beaurocratic nitwits the agency had to answer to insisted that nothing would happen in broad daylight, and that yesterday's incident had been a fluke.

Kei sat down hard at the desk provided for her as she envisioned the relatively care free days of the agency supplying quiet support to small, discrete devil hunting operations going up in smoke...

She looked up as a man half her size dressed in a black business suit opened the door of the agency's brand new local office in Nerima.

"What have we got, Kei?" the man asked as she hastily stood up.

"Trouble, Saito" Kei informed her partner. "Demon incursion of a previously unknown type in broad daylight. Two of what is probably going to end up as a team of five elementally empowered senshi who currently have little or no experience in devil hunting. A pint sized shikagami with Godzilla breath. Local media coverage that is probably going to turn national. And the food I ordered for us is twenty minutes late."

"You ordered food when the area's been cordoned off?" the short man sounded irritated.

"Of course not," Kei waived off the apparent disapproval. "There's instant ramen and a kettle waiting in the back room. I seriously recommend that you eat now - you aren't going to have an appetite after the tour..."

O O O

With the dishes done, thanks in part to Aunty Saotome, whom the eldest Tendo daughter had not been successful in dissuading this time, Kasumi went upstairs to confront Nabiki as she did her homework.

General Custer would have been proud of the way Kasumi seized the initiative and entered her sister's room after a brief knock, complete with opening salvo.

"Nabiki, we have to talk about appropriate dress when we have company over."

"Fine," Nabiki responded dryly as she turned around in her chair, revealing a largish azure kangaroo rat sitting on her lap. "We also need to talk about your treating Ranma like a teddy bear at night."

"Er..." Kasumi would undoubtedly have the fallen general's sympathy for having stepped into an unexpected ambush...

O O O

Saito Mizura was suitably impressed with the facility the agency had just opened in Nerima. Or, more properly, had just activated, as it had been built well ahead of time, along with sister facilities in Juban and other districts in and around the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. On the surface, all the public ever saw of this particular facility was a small factory/warehouse on a moderately sized industrial lot. Granted, this being Nerima, the security footage for the warehouse and open lot portions already had a spurious record of various martial arts duels. There was also some tags from gang related graffiti, but those were comparatively few given the fact that the relatively high local martial artist population tended to keep gang related activities in Nerima low.

The fact that the warehouse portion now had a gaping hole from when the creature had been hit clear through the structure from one of Tsunami's punches was just luck. The security footage of the demon's impromptu flight and Tsunami's absorption of the water from the broken sprinkler system as she followed her adversary was a huge bonus for the agency. And that was just the good news that Kei Murphy had opened with as she lead him down the hall towards the elevator.

Inside the elevator, Kei inserted a security key, turned it clockwise, and pressed all three floor buttons in rapid succession from top to bottom. Moments later, they were heading down into a basement that only showed on certain civil authority maps. She handed a folder to her diminutive partner after they started moving.

"The bug-boys put together a composite description from the news footage, video clips, photos, and eye witness accounts," the woman began as she stared resolutely forward, facing the doors. As ever before, when starting an operation with someone like Saito, she opted to begin with a formal summary of the available facts. Besides, keeping it impersonal helped to quell her temper."Whatever it was, it was roughly humanoid, with a head, torso, arms and legs. The hands and feet have five digits each but end in talons instead of nails, and the feet are shaped like those of an ape or monkey despite the upright posture and leg proportions more suitable for a body builder than a primate. Two eyes, dark and glistening with moisture, color indeterminate for the moment as we don't know if they are all pupil or if the iris is exceptionally dark. Two ear membranes. Odd cranial ridges extending the 'brows' to meet behind the head. Separated lower mandibles on the jaw, which is surrounded by eight to ten tentacles which are normally an inch thick and a foot and a half in length, but can extend to a much thinner eight foot reach. Three pubic tentacles capable of waving around, and which can apparently... ah... insert themselves into openings but weren't shown doing much else - they are definitely phallic in appearance and thus far the assumption is that at least these three are sexual organs, but the bug-boys could be wrong."

The elevator stopped, and the two agents proceeded down a long hallway with cinderblock walls painted a stark hospital white, and lit with neon lights hanging from a cement ceiling. Their steps echoed on the hard tiled floor. There were a handful of doors on either side, and after thirty feet or so, there was a 'T' intersection. Traffic was intermittent, consisting of the occasional man or woman in lab coats going from one room to another with no more than a glance sent their way just to be sure who they were. Six young shrine maidens in miko robes followed an old priest in a slow procession across the intersection before passing out of view again. From what Kei and Saito heard of their chanting, they were in the middle of sealing this facility against intrusion and scrying from outsiders.

After a moment's pause during which her partner didn't say anything, Kei continued. "Six major tentacles located on the torso, three under each arm, apparently anchored to the ribcage, if there is one. Upper most and thickest are the most squid-like, Seven feet long, capable of extending to about twice that length, with suckers along one side and ending with paddle-like pads. These pads have each have an opening slit from which a prehensile tongue can extend. The set below that is just as long, but without suckers, and can extend about three times their initial length. Like the smaller tentacles, they are phallic in appearance, but it turns out that the heads are just sheaths for more fragile sensory organs. We lucked out there: the end of one of them was found right in our warehouse, and we have it secured in a warded lab right now. The remaining pair, located behind the first two sets, are thin, whip-like appendages that can extend about twice as far as the other two sets. While they are prehensile, they seem to be used more for attacking, grappling, and swinging than for manipulation. Not that we have much footage on them or any of the smaller tentacles on the back because they were all burnt away in Akane's initial attack on the creature."

"Akane?" Saito asked, although like his partner, his gaze was fixed resolutely ahead.

"We got a confirmed sound bite of the other girl calling out her name when it looked like the creature killed her," Kei explained. "We're considering keeping the media tags though, and even came up with codenames for the next three members of this magical girl sentai team if there are any more: Avalanche, Hurricane, and Wilderness."

"I see... And if the proposed fifth one is based on our neighbors' elemental variation instead of ours?"

Kei sighed. "I missed that possibility, sorry. The boys will come up with something.""In any case, continue," the short man instructed."Okay, wrapping up the physical description, the creature had well developed abdominal muscles in a classic 'six-pack', but no navel. Pectoral development is equally progressed, but not initially apparent due to the presence of what is apparently an impressive set of breasts, with another, smaller set located below and to the outside of the first set. These were shown to produce a caustic milky acid capable of dissolving a metal street sign or part of a car, but these organs are apparently quite flammable as they exploded with Inferno's initial attack."

"Damage to the creature itself?"

"Negligible, with visible signs of regeneration as the battle progressed."

"And the sample in the lab?"

"Dead tissue, but signs of limited regrowth before it ran out of resources and expired."

"Would local law enforcement be sufficient if we cleared the use of fire arms for general issue in Nerima?"

"Maybe," Kei snorted in disgust. "I doubt small arms would make the grade though, with the kind of hits that thing endured from Tsunami. They'll need high calibers and armor piercing rounds, and only special units can get those."

"That will take time we might not have. Did they at least clear your spirit gun for use in Nerima?"

"Done even before they called me in from wrapping up a small incursion in Kyoto."

"A regular operation, I take it?"

Kei snorted derisively. "A five oni gang attacking people in one of the parks at night, cleaned out in three nights by a local devil hunter. All I did was cover expenses for lost outfits and signed waivers clearing the poor guy from responsibility for collateral damages to the area. No deaths, few witnesses, and the victims are arguing over who gets to date their hero."

"Speaking of victims, I understand we have one here?"

Kei stopped at a door, and held the handle for a moment. "She'd be dead by now if the police hadn't thought to call us in instead of a hospital. For the moment she has... unusual life support requirements." So saying, she opened the door, revealing a dimly lit lab with featuring various equipment with blinking lights and readouts. Dominating the room was an internally lit clear tube filled with what Saito assumed to be water, with various tubes and hoses leading to a very unfortunate nude woman supported gently in the middle of it all by a harness. Another shrine maiden sat before the contraption, chanting quietly. The four parallel scars on one of her cheeks was actually the least disturbing thing about the poor woman, as the way her body moved as the liquid in the tank was circulated made it apparent that she had no joints and an extremely flexible body.

"Good gods! What happened to her!?" Saito exclaimed in a harsh whisper.

"As near as the bug-boys can tell, nearly every bone in her body was transformed into either soft cartilage or hard sponge."

**END CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _First Report..._

(Contributed by Philip Jacobs)

R'hul was busy preparing his next report for transmission.

He had been quite pleased with his minions when they tuned the oracle cube to a heralds' guild dedicated to disseminating local events to the masses earlier. H'rys had encountered and fought two elementally empowered females shortly after it started its probing attack on the local population. Inferno and Tsunami were apparently new to their powers and previously unknown to the local heralds' guild. Inferno was the one to actually kill H'rys if the evidence was any indication, but the first battle was nearly a disaster for the two females. No other allies had shown up, and they had not battled H'rys simultaneously, indicating that they hadn't been trained enough to work together yet.

The real prize had been the images of Inferno and Tsunami reverting to their unpowered states. There had been no disguise field enchantment, and several of his minions immediately identified one of the two elemental warriors as a popular female at their educational crèche. This had been cause for a minor celebration and R'hul had sent his minions out to buy ketchup and soy sauce while he started his report.

Initial Start Up Cost: None. Local feral humans chanced upon viable summoning beacon, with no protective seals or wards - no bargain or contract is required to begin operations.Initial Gains: Seven local minions, two quality bio-bag seats.

Initial Expenditures: Reversion of one bio-bag seat to maintain cover. H'rys defeated and killed during initial probing attack.

Empowered Defenders: Check. At least two; female; inexperienced; element based - fire and water; power levels low; likely total set of four - Fire, Water, Earth, and Air.

Guardian Beast: Check. Mascot/mentor; small size; apparently noncombatant advisor; threat level deemed to be inconsequential.

Incidental Enchantments: None noted.

R'hul pondered what else to put down in his report as the oracle cube droned on...Should he mention ketchup in the first report, or save that for a later time, when he had samples to submit to support his observations?


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

No one, currently. I've lost contact with all of my prereaders…

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfic has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanfics, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

TAGS: Alternate Universe,Humor,Drama,Action/Adventure,Lime.

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN:**

"Look, Kasumi, These late-night abductions of Ranma from his room into your bed have got to stop. Ranma's under enough stress, what with no longer being human for the time being, without you inadvertently offering him something he can't possibly deal with right now," Nabiki admonished her older sister from the chair of Kasumi's desk as she held the subject of their conversation in her lap.

"Yeah," Ranma agreed with his tiny arms folded across his furry blue chest," it ain't right to..." The largish azure kangaroo-rat suddenly stopped and turned his head back and upwards towards Nabiki's face, cocking it slightly to the right in confusion. "Umm... What do you mean 'I can't handle what she's offering?' I can deal with anything anyone can dish out! What's she offering anyway? Is it some sort of challenge?"

"Ranma," the middle Tendo daughter spoke softly as she covered Ranma's muzzle, "hush. You're not helping your case any." It hadn't occurred to Nabiki until just now that Ranma might not even know what he was missing out on, although she couldn't be sure whether that was due to his upbringing or his current form...

O O O

Nodoka put down her teacup and looked over towards the two men once again playing shogi over in a corner of the room. Considering what was happening with her son and two of the Tendo daughters, she felt that it was time to broach the subject, at least between the adults..."So..." she started, pausing briefly so the two men could stop their game. "Have either of you told the children about their real heritage yet?"

Soun looked down and to the side as he responded. "Kasumi and Nabiki should have been told already, and given the option to visit another branch for training if they wished, but I never had the heart to tell them after Kimiko died. I may have told Akane eventually some time this year, but she's been training in the Tendo branch of Anything Goes..."

"All the more reason to do so then," Nodoka observed. "Your marriage, like ours, was arranged by our clans to strengthen the weakening lines of our Devil Hunting families. It had already been skipping generations of the female lines Kimiko and I belonged to, and it was thought that by merging with fading male lines, the two traditions could merge, at least strengthening the lines for a few more generations, and perhaps forge a new line in which it didn't matter what gender the children were."

"Oh yeah..." Genma tilted his head, suddenly remembering something. "That was the other reason my dad took me on that training trip when I was six. It's been a Saotome family tradition for seven generations!"

"Please don't tell me you forgot, Dearest..." Nodoka requested, with fists clenched and an eye twitching. "You were dead set on taking our child on that _stupid_ trip, whether we had a son or daughter, never mind _my own_ family traditions, because it was _vital_ to build up the ki reserves required for your own line's tradition. You even made that stupid contract to bring Ranma back as a Man among Men when you left on the assumption that enough Yang principle might awaken Devil Hunting abilities lost over the past few generations of the Saotome line!"

"Well, I kind of started loosing track of things about the same time I arranged for Ranma to marry that Kuonji kid..."

"_Genma!_" Soun exclaimed harshly, glairing at his old friend. "What about our agreement to join our lines?"

"Ten meals of the best okonomiyaki I've ever had in my life, a case or two of Kirin (a Japanese beer), and the offer of Chiro Kuonji's Yattai as his daughter's dowry," Genma replied, rubbing his temple. "I still don't know what we were thinking at the time, as I do remember telling Chiro that Ranma was already betrothed to the Tendo line. Next thing I know, I'm asking Ranma which he liked best, as if a five year old boy would know any better, and we go off running, leaving little Ukyo behind." Genma shrugged, then continued. "Just as well. There's no way a girl could undergo the rigors of proper Saotome ki building..."

**THWAP!**

Nodoka stood over her currently unconscious husband with the Saotome Honor Blade (still in its sheath, fortunately for Genma) in her hands, trembling with rage.

Soun cocked a brow at his friend's wife and commented. "You know, its probably just as well that he's planning to go on that temple pilgrimage. From the sound of it, he still has remnants of the taint we acquired when our Master finally succumbed to Onihebi's corruption curse."

"Wasn't he _already_ a pervert?" Nodoka asked.

"Well, yes, but it didn't _really_ get bad until we fought Onihebi," Soun explained. "Although, if the stories my grandfather told me are right, the Master had been quite the hellion in his youth before mellowing out in his old age. Onihebi's curse brought all that back with a vengeance. Eventually, it got so bad that your husband and I had to _seal_ him up in a cave and set wards."

O O O

R'hul carefully questioned his minions about the empowered female most of them recognized. The one identified by the local herald's guild as Inferno, although the same guild professed to not know the real identities of either of the females, was known to most of his minions as Akane Tendo, a fellow member of their instructional creshe. The object, it seemed, of a nearly daily mating ritual that seemed more appropriate for adolescents of R'hul's own kind than for the young of such a physically unassuming species. Granted, the unusually high frequency of the apparent reproduction ritual was pretty typical for this race, if that's what it really was. R'hul himself was only driven to such madness once or twice a year in his own youth, and maturity had tamed these periodic passions to where he could be more selective about mates and methods, or even just put it off until another season or so if need be.

The other empowered female was tentatively identified as Nabiki Tendo, who may or may not be a hatch-mate of the other, but was apparently more feared despite not being as noticed for physical confrontations. A regular queen webspinner, pulling the strings of those around her until she got them to do what she pleased. This female would probably make a wonderful pet if properly trained and broken in - unassuming and yet dangerous to the unwary were appealing traits as long as the pet wasn't too dangerous. Which, unfortunately, this one was, considering that she had an activated elemental soul rune.

Of the two females, one was known to reside in a warrior hive, and the other was presumed to live with her, although none of his minions could say exactly where the Tendo Dojo was, other than being in somewhere in the Furinkan section of Nerima. Not that it was particularly important to R'hul at this point anyway, other than being a place to avoid until its destruction or subversion could be assured, unless its destruction would simply alert other warrior hives and stir them up. More information was needed on that front to be sure. R'hul thought over the situation again, and decided to contact T'rikkis' squad as agents more suited to handle what may possibly turn out to be four elemental based soul rune hosts. T'rikkis would want to form its own plan of course, but this time, R'hul would be monitoring the entire mission from inception to conclusion.

O O O

As evening settled over Nerima, both the Saotome and Tendo families converged in the Tendo Dojo at Nodoka's insistance. Kasumi and Nabiki look over at a somewhat embarrassed Akane, wondering why their sister was fidgeting and holding a basket of what appeared to be spare practice outfits. Ranma, for his part, saw the numerous folded gi, tilted his tiny azure head for a moment, and nodded after taking a wild guess."Does this has to do with you managing to transform without setting fire to anything, Sparky?" the somewhat largish blue furred kangaroo rat asked.

Akane nodded, blushing. "Yes. Your mother heard about the difficulty I was having and insisted that I join practice doing it the safe way until it was a force of habit."

"Seems like a good idea," the diminutive blue furred guardian agreed. "Hey, Squirt," Ranma addressed Nabiki, who twitched slightly at her impromptu nickname. "You'll be joining her for this exercise. Both of you will change back and forth as many times as you can before your power runs out."

"And how long will that be?" Nabiki asked irritably. "This is a school night you know."

"I still have to finish my homework," Akane pointed out. "I really should finish it before bedtime, Sensei."

Ranma sighed at the reluctance of his two charges. "How shall I put this… You were both nearly killed by a single monster yesterday. This means that your training takes precedence over such niceties as school or sleep. Now your father put me in charge of your training, so…" Ranma suddenly expanded to his huge, saber-toothed form with the gorilla-like arms, and got in their faces. "**GET YOUR ASSES INTO THE CENTER OF THE DOJO AND TRANSFORM UNTIL YOU DROP!**"

"Yes, Sensei!" both girls jumped to comply, scared witless.

Nodding, Ranma reverted back to his now regular size and looked over at the parents. "Okay. They'll be at this for a while, and I think they deserve a little privacy…" He looked over at his mother who had coughed behind her hands, interrupting him.. "Did you want something, Mom?"

"I know you mean well, Son," Nodoka stated with formal politeness, "but they will also have to get used to using their transformations with people nearby, so that using the safe version becomes reflexive in such situations. Their new duties preclude any considerations for modesty, and its not like they have to worry about anyone remembering who they are."

"Er…" Ranma tilted his head, and looked as embarrassed as his two charges at the elder woman's statement. "But can't that wait until…"

"_Ahem_," Nodoka coughed again. "No, Ranma, it cannot. As you said, their training has priority over such niceties as rest or study at the moment. This is something that does need to be done. Everyone should stay in the dojo so that they can get used to other people seeing their beautiful bodies being on display."

The fathers looked at each other with raised eyebrows, and then at Nodoka as if she had grown a second head. They had misgivings, but couldn't really find fault with the woman's odd declaration.

"But… er… but…" Ranma stammered in embarrassment for a moment before shaking his tiny head clear. "You know what? Screw it. Everyone get whatever it is you do in the evenings and bring it in here. Not you two, you comediennes," the largish blue kangaroo-rat interrupted Akane and Nabiki before they could make a break for it. "You two are going to change back and forth starting now. When you feel like you're getting the hang of it, try to make moves other than the automatic pose. If you can do that, I'll let you study and do your homework."

"Then we can quit, right?" Nabiki jumped on the chance, with Akane nodding hopefully beside her. Both girls already had full body blushes from their upcoming humiliation, despite being aware that they wouldn't care about being naked whenever they were powered up.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Ranma asked. "Neither of you are going to stop changing until you literally can't do it any longer, _even if it takes all night_. Dropping from exhaustion is okay, but stopping just because you are doing something else is out of the question. You'll do your homework while changing, you'll do katas while changing, and you'll clean the dojo while changing. You'll still be changing during any rest breaks from doing anything else, _and you'll still be changing until every last drop of your power is drained_. I may not like Mom's idea of everyone else staying in here and watching you do it, but it does make sense."

Ranma looked at the two seriously, idly noting that the fathers had already returned with their shogi board, while his mother had never left. "Now stop dawdling and shuffling about and get started already."

"Er…" Akane hesitated, trying to thing of some excuse, ANY excuse, to get out of this, while her sister looked like she didn't know what to do."

"I said…" Ranma once again shot up to about the size of a tiger crossed with an ape, "**NOW!!**"

Both girls spontaneously transformed violently, damaging the dojo with fire and ice.

Ranma shook off the slivers of ice he intercepted when he moved to protect the others. "Okay, now change back and try again, only _without_ the explosions."

"Yes, Sensei," the two girls responded in resignation.

Nodding, Ranma reverted to about the size of a rabbit, and began trying to work out katas of his own to go with his altered physical state and capabilities.

O O O

It didn't take too long before both Nabiki and Akane got tired of hurredly gathering up their scattered clothing every time they changed back. Thus, it was discovered that they had to be wearing at least _something_ in order for their costumes to appear on their powered up forms. It didn't have to be much, and it didn't even need to be worn properly. Even a sock pulled quickly over a hand would do.

Incidental to this revelation was the attendant discovery that their senshi forms were apparently clean shaven or otherwise defoliated other than their eyebrows and head of hair. A brief examination by Nodoka, who interupted their training when she noticed that their pubic hair vanished and returned repeatedly as they changed, showed that their body hair just became very fine and barely noticeable instead. Neither Akane nor Nabiki seemed to mind this examination.

Until they changed back and Nodoka insisted on checking their regular bodies as well.

Ranma would have said something, but while he wasn't particularly phased by his charges nudity while they were powered up, the same state in their normal bodies was still leaving him stunned and semicoherent.

So, just before 8:00, barely an hour after they got started, Akane had settled on racing for the closest article of clothing to reappear, regardless of whose it was. Nabiki, on the other hand, simply gave up and just triggered the power up sequence almost as soon as she had finished powering down, taking what comfort she could in the fact that she didn't care about nudity whenever she was in her senshi state.

O O O

At around 10:30, the adults finally left the dojo and got ready for bed, leaving Akane and Nabiki to continue practicing under Ranma's watchful eyes, who had finally become somewhat desensitized to their exposure. By this time, they had progressed to the point that they were able to finish their homework and perform katas without interrupting their transformations. By necessity, Akane finally had to give up her mad dashes for random garments, as she couldn't really do anything else while racing back and forth so often.

O O O

By 1:00, Ranma let them stop doing katas, and had them clean the dojo and then use the furo. After turning half of the water in the furo into steam, Akane was permitted to pause her transformation conditioning until after the two finished bathing. However, once they were both clean, it was back to the dojo for them both.

O O O

By 3:00 in the morning both sisters were delirious from sleep deprivation, and were giggling madly while poking each other in the breasts. Ranma looked on is resignation over their lack of endurance, but pushed them to continue transforming back and forth as neither of them had used up their power reserves yet. Maybe he should have had them practicing using other aspect of their powers too, to drain them faster.

Shaking his head, he decided that neither one of them was in any state to safely use the other aspects of their powers. Maybe tomorrow…

O O O

At 4:59 AM, both girls were finally out of power, and trembling with exhaustion. Neither one could see straight, and forming coherent thoughts was a questionable prospect at best, but at least the little demon-beast finally let them stop. The two girls looked at eachother, grinning like idiots, then turned to head for their beds...

Only to fall over in a dead sleep before they even hit the floor.

Ranma looked down on his charges, not without kindness now that they had completed their assigned task, and expanded back into his monstrous size and caried the sleeping pair into the house and up to their rooms. Setting them on their own beds, he draped a blanket over each of them before returning to his token.

O O O

Kasumi was having considerable difficulties in waking her sisters up to get ready for school. Sighing, she tossed aside their blankets, raising an eyebrow at their nudity, knowing full well that they both preferred to wear pajamas to bed. When neither one responded to being shaken or poked, she decided that more drastic measures were called for.

"**GODDAMNIT, KASUMI! I'M UP! I'M UP!**" Akane yelled, practicly leaping out from under the fresh pile of ice cubes that her eldest sister dumped over her. Grumbling about not getting nearly enough sleep, the tired girl never the less started her morning routine.

Nabiki, on the other hand, just continued snoring away under her own new pile of ice, apparently unaffected. Remembering what Ranma had told Nabiki the other day about not being harmed by her own element, Kasumi sighed and decided to do resort to something she hadn't done since her high school locker room days. Taking a hold of one of her sisters nipples, she squeezed hard while twisting as far as she could.

"_GYAAAAAAAAH!_"

O O O

"You're evil, Kasumi. I just want you to know that." Nabiki groused as she settled down for breakfast, still rubbing her now sore breast from where her elder sister had given her a purple nurple.

"I'm sorry," Kasumi apologized, "but you just weren't waking up any other way."

"Whatever. Can't we just skip school today? I'm too tired."

"I'm with Nabiki. I can barely keep my eyes open."

"I'm sorry, daughters," Soun admonished, "but from here on out you'll sometimes be required to train long into the night. I can't just let you skip school any time that happens, as you might end up missing too many days to pass. Now buck up, square your shoulders, and finish your breakfast."

"And don't forget to let my son out of his token before you head off to school," Nodoka stated. "I'd like some tiome to actually get to know my son."

O O O

R'hul watched his minions head off for their educational crèche with anticipation.

Soon, the trap would be sprung.

Heading into the elder humans' former bedroom, he settled before the bureau mirror to scry the upcoming events.

O O O

**END CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _I'm… Too sleepy for my skirt - too sleepy for my skirt - so sleepy it hurts..._

Akane looked over at her sister as the two drowsily made their way down the street. "Um… Nabiki?"

"Yes?" the elder girl responded sleepily.

"I can't help feeling that we're forgetting something important."

"Like what? We let Ranma out, right?"

"That's not it…"

"We have our book bags, so it can't be that."

"I know, I know. And Kasumi made sure to hand us both our lunches, but I still think we're missing something…"

"Do you have any idea what it is, Akane?

"No," admitted the younger girl, shaking her head.

"Then forget it. It can't have been all that important in the first place if you can't remember what it is now, and thinking about it will just make you worry. We're both tired enough as it is without making our day any harder with baseless anxieties."

"I guess your right," Akane finally agreed, and put the thought out of her head.

Which was too bad, really, as they were both still tired enough to fail to notice that neither one of them had even a single stitch of clothing on…

O O O

Soun looked over at his eldest daughter and shook his head. "Okay, so they didn't notice before leaving the yard. Here's your money."

"Hehe," Kasumi giggled. "Nabiki's right. We ARE evil!"

Genma huffed. "That wasn't evil - that was training!"

Nodoka glanced at the door, despite the fact that the girls had left a while ago. "I wonder how long it will take them to realize that they turned the wrong way after the passed the gate?"

"Bets?" Kasumi asked, giggling once again. Oh, she hadn't done anything like this since her high school days! It was fun!

O O O

Nabiki sneezed, and wondered why it felt like someone was encroaching on her turf…

**END OMAKE**

**NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:**

Yeah yeah, so I'm a little late with the update…

Okay - _very_ late with the update…

Um… at least I finally updated the earlier chapters too!


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

No one, currently. I've lost contact with all of my prereaders…

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfic has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanfics, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

TAGS: Alternate Universe, Humor, Drama, Action/Adventure, Violence, Lime.

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN:**

Key Murphy cocked an eyebrow as she approached Furinkan High School under the guise of a transfer student. Parked across the street were several news vans, which was to be expected considering the so-called "welcoming party" announced by Tatewaki Kuno the previous day. That one of them was a converted armored personnel carrier…

Well, she had to give Nerima Neighborhood News credit for budgeting for the weird martial arts mayhem their community was noted for…

O O O

Todo hung back from the excited crowd of students gathering at the near the school gates. Not that this was unusual per se, but unlike other mornings when only the Akane fan club staked out the gates, today's crowd was both many times larger, consisting of both genders, and even a few students from other schools. A couple of members of the Kendo club were holding poled from which a banner welcoming Inferno and Tsunami.

Todo just _had_ to admire Kuno for being able to have had images captured from yesterday's news footage blown up and placed on what looked to be a professionally made banner done in the colors and patterns of the two magical girls. That kind of work on such short notice was just plain impressive.

Too bad so many of the students who worked on it were going to die soon.

Todo looked down at the sheet of paper he was holding. It bore the sign of his gang, which somehow had the power to summon those demon things from whatever hell they came from. Two of his buddies had similar sheets with them, elsewhere in the crowd. All it took was a little blood, and 'poof,' suddenly a many tentacled horror from beyond would show up.

The switchblade in his pocket would provide that once Akane and her sister showed up.

Todo snorted in morbid humor over how _easy_ it was to figure out that Inferno was actually Akane Tendo. Sure, her hair and eyes were colored differently, but anyone who had seen her day in and day out could still tell who she was. And from there it was easy to guess that Tsunami was actually her sister, Nabiki. His master had even used their real names when he was given instructions on when to trigger the trap that was planned for them.

Chuckling darkly, Todo looked back towards the gate and blinked in confusion. Akane and her sister had just arrived, but he could no longer see any resemblance at all to the two magical girls. Their hair and eyes were the wrong color and everything!

Oh well, R'hul must have chosen those two as the signal to trigger the trap for _some_ reason.

Palming his knife, he casually made his way towards the two girls…

O O O

Kei looked down at the photos she had of the two girls who had just arrived. Pictures that she had been confidant were of the civilian identities of Tsunami and Inferno. Sighing in frustration, the agent mentally prepared herself for a long and arduous day of resisting the effects of an unexpected identity protection enchantment.

She wondered if it simply hadn't been active the other day, or if maybe only relative proximity to the girls triggered the effect.

In any event, dealing with the effect was going to be a major headache.

Kei rubbed her temples, realizing that in at least one way, the pain was going to be quite literal until she managed to resolve the issue…

O O O

Akane and Nabiki noted the somewhat larger than normal crowd of students gathered near the main gates of their high school, and the banner welcoming their powered forms, with sleepy bemusement. There was a feel of general excitement in the air, and many of their fellow students were looking past them with expectation in their eyes.

"Akane," one of the younger sister's friends called out, approaching the pair, with another girl trailing behind.

"Hey, Yuka, Sayuri," Akane greeted her classmates. "What's going on?" As tired as she was, she really wanted to know. She certainly didn't remember making up any name for herself yet, but apparently that hadn't stopped anyone from giving them names anyway.

"Didn't you see the news last night?" Sayuri asked, confused.

"Tsunami and Inferno are supposed to show up at Furinkan High sometime today for some sort of welcoming ceremony!" Yuka chirped happily. "Isn't it exciti-_erk!_"

Whatever else Yuka was going to say was interrupted when some punk wandered by and casually pinned a note to her back with a knife. Sayuri and several other students started screaming, while Nabiki caught her sister's friend and helped her gently to the ground.

As for Akane, she had already started laying into the bastard, dislocating his weapon arm at both the shoulder and elbow, breaking his jaw, and cracking his ribs with brutal efficiency, all traces of exhaustion draining away with her anger…

O O O

Kei looked around in shock at the chaos ensuing around her. At least three students had been stabbed in rapid succession, all within the span of only a few seconds. Moments later, she could see the exit points for multiple dimensional vortices twisting into existence near where each of the attacks occurred, with more forming as the attacks on the panicking kids continued.

Already, she could see creatures coming out of the portals. The bulk of which were either short, nasty looking youma with reddish-brown skin, armed with cleavers or knives, or largish tusked brutes with greenish-grey skin, armed with bludgeons or evil looking swords. Scattered among these were an assortment of obviously more powerful minotaurs, ogres, and other less recognizable giants, armed with either massive mauls or huge double bladed battle axes. And among them all, were a handful of C'thulhoids.

Perhaps most disconcerting of all was the fact that only the more numerous minions were wearing anything at all. And most of that was in the form of random bits of armor strapped on with belts and rope, a chaotic collection of accessories such as capes, gauntlets shields, or boots, and all sorts of strange jewelry. None of which with any effort at all given towards physical modesty.

Kei tried not to think of the fact that most of the monsters were immediately setting about rounding up any human they could reach, and herding them towards a central point, where they were being stripped and…

The undercover agent hated herself for turning away from their plight, but she had more important priorities at the moment. Rescuing those students and teachers would have to wait until the sources of the portals had been located and stopped.

One was down already, taken out by Akane, so Kei merely noted that the two girls had started their henshin sequences and looked elsewhere.

Okay, another was just disabled by a ribbon which reached out from the branches of one of the trees near the gate. With that one tied up, she quickly set about trying to spot the third and hopefully final cultist.

Spotting him out of the corner of her eye, Kei spun around, ducking below a grabby ogre (a quick elbow thrust to the groin solving that problem - at least temporarily), and summoned her spirit gun. Her disguise promptly disintegrated into tiny motes of multi colored lights as her gun popped into existence in her hand. Snapping off a shot even as her own monster hunter costume began to form piecemeal on her briefly nude body, the caramel skinned redhead was gratified to see that she had hit her target on the first shot, putting an end to the summoning portals.

She turned and fired on the C'thulhoid closest to the captured people, only to be somewhat perturbed when she discovered that her hand-cannon didn't cause anywhere near as much damage to it as she hoped it would.

Any further shots were curtailed when she had been knocked cold by a blow to the back of her head.

O O O

Bhahb grunted with satisfaction as the human witch with the loud and very dangerous wand fell at his feet. Served the stupid bitch right for failing to finish him off after nailing him in the balls. He idly noted that her battle costume dissolved along with her consciousness, only to be replaced by the blue frock that seemed to be popular among the local females.

Picking the irritating wench up and slinging her over his shoulders, Bhahb limped his way over to the quartermaster overseeing the captured slaves. He'd put her in her place later, but only after whatever mystic abilities she had were either neutralized or under control.

Heck, she seemed feisty enough to be interesting to the kids. If she stayed that way once her powers were sealed, maybe he'd give her to one of his sons or daughters as a pet! Might even last for a while before they eventually got either bored enough or hungry enough to eat her.

Smiling though the fading pain of his recent injury, Bhahb cheerfully whistled a merry tune as he turned his prisoner over to Jheorj and the boys before heading back into action.

O O O

The two Tendo sisters wasted no time once they realized what was going on around them. As one, they initiated their henshin sequences, reflexively using the 'safe' version due to their long night of conditioning. Unfortunately, their transformations were almost immediately interrupted when T'rikkis dropped his invisibility spell and placed a major tentacle on each of their bare backs, tracing a seal near the base of their spines with it's paddle tongues, placing a temporary binding on their elemental powers.

Thus sealed, neither female could put up _any_ resistance as T'rikkis began it's next set of ritual spells, trusting it's minions to keep the rabble away long enough for the elemental soul runes of the two females to be extracted.

O O O

"**NABIKI!**" Ranma roared in alarm, instantly expanding from a cute and fuzzy creature about the size of a cat into a massive saber-toothed beast approximately the size of an unusually large tiger.

"**THE GIRLS ARE IN TROUBLE!**" announced the giant, eight foot long mutant saber-toothed kangaroo rat with muscular gorilla-like arms, just before sprinting out of the house.

By the time he noticed that he had somehow acquired a passenger, it was already too late to go back and leave Kasumi behind…

O O O

Soun, Genma, and Nodoka blinked as they stared out the hole Ranma had just made in the side of the house. Out by the outer wall, one of the massive teak gates spun around once, twice, and then a third time before joining its mate on the street with a resounding thud.

"Wait," Sound muttered in shock, "did he just say..?" Eyes widening in realization, the Tendo patriarch leaped to his feet and began racing after his friend's transformed son. "**_My babies! My precious little girls! Daddy's coming!_**"

The Saotomes looked at each other, and then scrambled to follow as fast as they could.

O O O

Shan Pu shrieked as she spontaneously transformed, having been unaware that she even had a violent emergency henshin sequence, or that it could be activated by anything other than her own will. A massive boulder shot out of the ground beneath the lumber laden train car she was riding, even as she was rapidly encased in sand, which briefly fused into stone before exploding away from her, leaving her in her battle costume.

She was already five miles away, still screaming obscenities as she helplessly rode the soaring boulder, when the now tree-less flatbed car finally completed its tumbling arc through the air, landing with a resounding crash.

Moments later, the tattered scraps that remained of her pack fluttered to the ground, settled among the splintered remains of birch that now littered the ground.

O O O

Neither Akane nor Nabiki could do anything as they were forced to their hands and knees by some sort of mystical pressure wave. As the mysterious force continued pushing them to their bellies, they were shocked when their respective elements began to shoot out of their mouths. They could feel their feet start to compress and flatten as the flow of power escaping through their mouths increased. An uncomfortable, but somehow not quite painful process, although very horrifying on a personal level. Terror settled in as they could feel their spirits being slowly drawn from their bodies and coalescing into a pair of rounded gemstone lenses, not unlike Ranma's token. A ruby red one for Akane, and a teal one for Nabiki.

O O O

Kodachi watched in mute horror as the two senshi she came to see were so adroitly taken out by the tentacled rape demon. Hope flared briefly when she heard the thundering crack from the gun of yet another senshi, apparently from a different team than the other two, but those hopes were dashed when that girl was also neutralized.

Wondering what, if anything, she could do, a small movement caught the gymnast 's eyes, and she looked down to see a blue gem, similar to the other two that were even now forming from the two girls, come to a rest near the base of the tree she was hiding in…

**END CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS:** _Ride'em Cowgirl!_

Kasumi managed to pull herself into a sitting position on Ranma's massive back as he tore through the morning traffic of Nerima.

Grinning madly from the thrill of the ride, she briefly put aside her concern for her sisters' welfare and waved one hand in the air while holding onto Ranma's azure fur with the other.

"Yippie-kai-yay!"

Ranma skidded to a stop, nearly throwing the eldest Tendo sister off of his back. Reaching back and placing the now perplexed girl on the street, the giant saber-toothed kangaroo rat glared at the girl in irritation.

"Okay, this has to stop now, Kasumi. I'm not moving another step forward until you agree to stop foolin' around like this!"

Somehow, Ranma just knew he had failed to impress Kasumi with how he felt about the matter. Especially when she suddenly pulled a riding crop from out of nowhere and swatted him in the nose with it.

"Bad Ranma! Less talky, more horsy!"

The big blue beast placed a massive paw over his face and muttered, "why me?"


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

No one, currently. I've lost contact with all of my prereaders…

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfic has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanfics, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

TAGS: Alternate Universe, Humor, Drama, Action/Adventure, Violence, Lime.

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN:**

Tatewaki Kuno held firm, his resolve to defend his fellow students and to avenge the deaths of his twin goddesses, steadfast in the face of nigh hopeless opposition. Already, he and his fellow kendo club members were splattered with the gore of whatever lesser monsters tried to make it past them and get to the doors of Furinkan High.

No eloquence of speech could possibly convey the depth of his horror as he bore witness to the debauchery being inflicted upon those students and teachers who were already captured, nor could they express his frustration as the bokkens of his kendo club compatriots shattered against the tempered steel of the pig-men's swords.

And yet, even in the face of certain doom, Tatewaki Kuno fought on…

O O O

Hikaru Gosenkugi stood paralyzed with fear as the chaos in the schoolyard flowed about him. He more mute witness to acts of tremendous courage, heroism, cowardice, and betrayal. The best and the worst humanity had to offer in the face of hopeless odds, all within the microcosm of the schoolyard.

Over there, the school gym teacher had just barricaded himself in the school grounds maintenance shed, with only those few students who had already made it into the dubious protection the tiny brick shack offered, leaving the rest to their fate.

Elsewhere, by the doors, Mr. Ukojo, perhaps the frailest member of the faculty, shoved the last student in his area through the school doors and slammed them shut before turning to face the gibbering horde armed only with his ever present wooden ruler.

And just to his left, some jock had just tripped up his own girlfriend in order to put someone else in the way as he ran for his life from one of the huge, brutish, and very obviously masculine minotaurs.

In all his days, Gosenkugi could never explain what came over him in that very moment, but without even thinking about it, he stepped between the naked monster and the fallen girl, drawing out his tiny mallet and a nail as he did so. In one smooth motion, he took aim and struck down the beast at the only vulnerable spot he could reach…

O O O

Mai looked up at the frail boy who had just saved her and fell in love all over again.

Jiro could go fuck himself after pushing her over like that, but this boy had stepped in to protect her despite obviously being no match for the rampaging side of beef facing him.

Quickly rising to her feet, Mai noted that the boy stood frozen in shock over what he had just done, but also that the giant long-horned and horny youma was just hunched over in pain, covering his bleeding privates.

Thinking fast, the girl hauled the frail boy up over her shoulders and booked it for the closest protection she could see…

Kami bless Nerima Neighborhood News and their armored news van!

The cameraman and the reporter helped them into the blue and chrome APC, before diving back in themselves and slamming the door.

And not a moment too soon as the enraged minotaur slammed into the heavy steel plating of the door, rocking the vehicle on it's axels.

O O O

"Sorry!" Kasumi called out from Ranma's back as the oversized saber-toothed kangaroo rat brushed aside a car that had the poor fortune of having reached the same spot as he had been charging down the street…

O O O

Sato just sat there for a few moments after his car stopped spinning from the collision with the blue furred wall of muscle that just ran by.

Mere minutes ago, reports of a massive youma attack in broad daylight started pouring in.

Then he couldn't get in contact with Kei, the agent on scene.

And just now, a guardian beast that was last seen as having been about the size of a cat, had practically torn the front end of his car off in a broadside collision as it made it's own way towards Furinkan.

At least the girl riding the big blue beast had been polite…

O O O

As Kodachi witnessed the carnage and debauchery befalling the people in the schoolyard at the hands of these despicable monsters, she shored up her own resolve and dropped to the ground near the blue gem resting at the base of the tree she was hiding in.

Dodging a reaching tentacle from the rape demon who had just rendered two of the three senshi to have shown up into empty skins and a pair of gemstone lenses, she adroitly grabbed the sapphire lens.

O O O

T'rikkis barely raised his shields in time as a pillar of brambles shot out of the ground, briefly cocooning the female who had dived out of the tree after the blue power stone he had somehow missed spotting before.

Even so, the shockwave of exploding splinters and thorns actually sent him tumbling end over end across the battlefield.

Getting up, T'rikkis shook his head clear before staring back at the now nut-brown human wearing a green and tan leaf-themed costume similar to the ones that had adorned his two victims the other day.

The C'thulhoid mage narrowed it's dark, glistening eyes at the arrival of a large blue guardian beast bearing a rider…

O O O

Ranma set Kasumi down next to his latest charge and stared the green clad girl in the eyes. "Protect her with your life, Thorn. I'll take care of this."

Kodachi Kuno could only nod in awe as the magnificent beast reached down and took the red and teal gems into his massive paws. In an instant, he stood transformed into a man about her own age, with striking blue eyes and deep blue hair bound in a pigtail. His garb was a masculine variant of the costumes of the senshi whose gems he had just claimed, combining the themes of water and flame.

He stood tall and resolute, and spoke with a voice that echoed like thunder in the mountains.

"_**I am Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."**_

Fire engulfed his left hand as frosty mist gathered about his right...

"_**I am the Guardian."**_

Taking an agressive stance, Ranma's voice grew even louder under the weight of his anger.

"_**PREPARE... TO... DIE!**_"

**END CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

**OMAKE THREATER PRESENTS: **_A touch of the middle Tendo…_

Kodachi Kuno could only nod in awe as the magnificent beast reached down and took the red and teal gems into his massive paws. In an instant, he stood transformed into a man about her own age, with striking blue eyes and deep blue hair bound in a pigtail. His garb was a masculine variant of the costumes of the senshi whose gems he had just claimed, combining the themes of water and flame.

He stood tall and resolute, and spoke with a voice that echoed like thunder in the mountains.

"_**I'm rich! I'm rich! I am fabulously wealthy and comfortably well off!"**_

Trapped as a naked image in her teal gemstone lens, Nabiki shed tears of pride and murmured to herself. "That's my boy! I taught him that!"


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

No one, currently. I've lost contact with all of my prereaders…

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfic has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanfics, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even GASP American comic books!).

TAGS: Alternate Universe, Humor, Drama, Action/Adventure, Violence, Lime.

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:**

Shan Pu tried to figure out what was going on as she soared high in the air over China riding a boulder that was about half the size of the train car she had been on only minutes ago. One moment she had been going through her early morning routine, or what she could of it while riding on a moving flatbed train car loaded with birch timber. The next, she was overwhelmed with a powerful sense of urgency, powered up, and clinging to a rock that apparently had issues with the concept of gravity.

She tried to get the rock to go down. She really did. Before she saw how high up she was.

After that, she was perfectly content to let the huge slab of granite go where it wanted to, just so long as it didn't drop her in the process.

The teenage Nichieju settled in for a long uncomfortable ride through biting wind, realizing that she was going quite a bit faster than the train she had been riding. The sense of emergency was still quite strong, and she guessed that whoever had ended up with her Guardian Stone had gotten in over their heads.

Shan Pu smiled grimly as she raced through the predawn sky. Surely if she came riding to the rescue of her outsider compatriot, she'd be acknowledged as the leader of the demon hunting party her Guardian Stone was gathering!

It would have been nice if it had brought along her pack though. She was getting kind of hungry, and it would have been nice to be able to get at her provisions.

Oh well, she'd just have to go back for it later. After all, all of her travel stuff was in there!

O O O

A few hundred miles back, at the scene of a massive train wreck, the shredded remains of Shan Pu's pack and it's contents were scattered over an area of about five acres or so…

O O O

Sayuri comforted Yuka as best she could, considering that both girls were captives, along with many other students and a few teachers. Most were being bound with leather strips, like Sayuri herself, with their ankles secured together and their wrists tied behind their backs. Which was really,_ really_ embarrassing, considering that each of them had been stripped completely naked after being brought in.

Even so, poor Yuka had it worse. Her longtime friend had been stabbed in the back right at the start of the youma attack, and had only received a rough sort of field care from their captors before also being tied up and casually lumped with the rest of the prisoners.

At least…

Sayuri choked at the thought.

At least they hadn't ended up like either of those poor magical girls, who had been turned into empty skins before their eyes.

She wondered how Akane and her sister were doing, and if they managed to get away somehow.

Sayuri wondered anything at all in an effort to try to keep her mind off of those even less fortunate than Yuka and herself.

Which was really, _really_ hard to do when they were being butchered alive right not more than ten feet away.

Yuri! Must comfort Yuri!

O O O

Jheorj calmly went about his business, directing his underlings in getting the slaves sorted and secured.

He had long since become inured to the mewling whines and cries that so often accompanied these raids, and he had never really given any thought at all to such ideas as preserving their victims' comfort or dignity.

Quite the opposite, really. He actually enjoyed his work. It paid well, and had great fringe benefits.

Still, even though he typically enjoyed the cries and lamentations that came along with the job, sometimes they got _too_ distracting. Casually turning over one of the young females who was babbling in hysteria in an otherwise amusing attempt to comfort her injured companion, he let himself chuckle at the nice shade of red she turned when random chance landed her head in the crotch of a young male.

O O O

Daisuke could only ponder the total injustice of it all.

Here he was, actually experiencing something that might have come out of his wildest dreams, except that even his darkest nightmares had never included getting head-butted in the 'nads by the girl involved.

At least the new pain was keeping his mind off of what was happening to poor Chiro, as apparently the youma were only interested in patching up those who they didn't consider to be too troublesome to keep alive. Anyone brought into the impromptu slave camp with severe injuries that couldn't be quickly patched up with crude field treatments was being slaughtered instead.

Daisuke supposed that it was fortunate that only Chiro and Mr. Ukojo were counted among that number so far.

Although things didn't look too promising for the kendo club from what he could see…

O O O

T'rikkis could only stare in horror as this new guardian, R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi, tore through the ranks of his raiders like death incarnate.

Sure, one expected goblins and to fail against defending champions. That's why one included them in any decent raiding force - in order to distract the heroes with easy targets until they got overwhelmed by sheer numbers or taken out by a stronger minion.

Except this R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi wasn't letting himself be bogged down by the goblins, or even the more challenging orcs. Instead, he was leaping here and there, staying in one spot only long enough to make an attack. If even that long, as the guardian seemed to be able to make an inordinate number of devastating attacks while still in motion.

Here, a handful of goblins were either encased in ice or impaled on icicles.

There, charred bones were all that remained of a band of orcs.

T'rikkis winced as R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi stomped on the ground at one point, which somehow caused the paving material and a good sized chunk of the underlying earth to flip over and crush a pair of ogres.

Really, the only minions T'rikkis had that apparently had any staying power at all against R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi were the minotaurs and fellow C'thulhoids…

O O O

Ranma tore through the ranks of the enemy with only one goal in mind for the immediate future: To get them so riled up with him that they ignored everyone else!

If he could get the invaders to focus all of their attention on him, then they wouldn't be paying attention to the people trying to either rescue the captives or get away themselves.

To this end, he was taking advice from the sentai-minded Akane, who was currently trapped as a naked image of herself in a ruby lens mounted on the brass bracer on his left arm. Calling out unusual, and totally unnecessary, attack names such as "_**Cold Snap**_," "_**Burninate**_," or "_**Two Ton Stomp**_," with the sole purpose of irritating the opposition and getting ALL of their attention focused on him.

To be honest, he was very familiar with such tactics already, and Akane's advice was more for thematic purposes as he really didn't know what kind of insults to use on the invaders.

O O O

Nabiki tuned out the somewhat embarrassing advice her sister was giving Ranma, not really knowing which was worse. The suggested attack names or the fact that Ranma was _actually_ calling them out.

Although, misdirecting the enemy into thinking that you _had_ to call out attack names _could_ be turned into a tactical advantage later. Which is why she hadn't said anything against it.

Instead, she turned her attention to her environment.

She was floating naked in a seemingly endless sky of teal, with bits of arcane writing or images drifting around at random. That, and a circle of images centered around her, that seemed to be variations of herself as far as she could figure out.

Most of them were only silhouettes, suggesting forms or outfits to be unlocked later. It was only due to the revealed images' obvious likeness to herself that led Nabiki to that conclusion.

One intriguing outline suggested that she'd have a mermaid option sometime in the future, while others held objects with profiles that hinted at various weapons or accessories. Or that she would actually _be_ different weapons or accessories…

Um… she decided not to pursue that line of thought at the moment.

Turning her attention to the 'unlocked' images, Nabiki noted an image of herself wearing the battle regalia she already knew about, standing next to what she assumed to be her unpowered self. Her very, very naked unpowered self. Who's half-lidded gaze and smirk of amusement hinted at secrets untold.

Okay, moving on…

On the other side of the image wearing her regular costume was one holding what appeared to be a jeweled broadsword right out of a videogame, wearing matching boots and gloves with short folded over cuffs. On her torso was an abbreviated vest that left most of her midriff bare and wouldn't be able to close in front even if it had buttons or other fasteners (which it didn't). And, just to top off the surreal impropriety of the outfit, there was a miniskirt.

A micro-miniskirt.

With no panties.

The image in bedecked in scanty blue and teal apparel winked saucily at her and blew her a kiss before posing with the sword held high. Beneath it, a heading appeared in the same incomprehensible arcane language, except that she could somehow understand what this phrase was saying.

_**ORDER OF ZEUS**_…

O O O

Kodachi, or rather Thorn as her new Lord, Ranma, had named her, held the youma at bay with lashes from a thorn studded vine wielded as a whip.

"So…" the now green haired girl started, "can you tell me what your relation to Lord Ranma might be?"

"Oh, I'm Kasumi Tendo," the girl replied calmly, as if not surrounded by the disturbing scenes of the ongoing battle. "I'm the older sister of his fiancée, Nabiki!"

"Oh…" Kodachi paused in thought. "So he must be especially angry indeed, considering what had happened."

"What do you mean?"

"You hadn't noticed ye? _ehem!_ I mean, um…" Thorn tried desperately to think of something to distract the elder girl before she looked over and saw what had happened to her sisters.

Unfortunately, Kasumi chose just then to try to see what the new magical girl was talking about.

All the blood drained from Kasumi's face as she stood up. Trembling with barely controlled hysteria, she turned, and with speed which would no longer surprise Ranma, reached out and touched the sapphire lens in the fitting on the back of Thorn's right gauntlet.

O O O

Everyone in the area blinked at they tried to clear their vision of the spots cause by the actinic flash that had enveloped the schoolyard. The sound of gentile sobs drew their attention skyward, towards a dusky skinned woman with golden blonde hair, glowing wings of feathered light, and eyes that blazed like the sun itself. She was garbed in a form fitting costume in the same overall pattern as Ranma and Thorn, only mainly white, with black and gold trim.

And she was very, very, cross!

As she brought her hands forward, aiming at one monster who seemd to be the center of a particularly nasty bit of business, she shouted in a voice that resounded with holy judgment. "**I CANNOT FORGIVE YOU!**"

And then there was a beam of golden light, nine feet wide, and sizzling with the crackle of ionized air!

As the beam faded, it left behind a hole in the ground, a quarter mile deep, right where Jheorj and some of his minions had been. The prisoners gave a mighty cheer as their remaining captors scattered into the surrounding crowd.

Kasumi fell, naked and already unconscious from having expended _all_ of her newborn magical reserves in one attack…

**END CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: **_And that's why you should always go before taking long trips…_

Shan Pu shifted about nervously, and wondered just how she would solve her current dilemma.

She still couldn't control the boulder she was riding, and she really, _really, really_ wanted to land now.

Holding her legs together, the proud Warrior of Earth whimpered as she tried desperately to contain herself.

She really needed to make a pit-stop soon, so that her dramatic rescue wouldn't be ruined by the smell of pee soaked shorts!


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**MAGICAL GUARDIAN RANMA!**

PREREADING AND EDITING ASSISTANCE BY:

No one, currently. I've lost contact with all of my prereaders…

DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfic has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanfics, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even_ GASP_ American comic books!).

TAGS: Alternate Universe, Humor, Drama, Action/Adventure, Violence, Lime.

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:**

Ranma reached out with his will and directed a tree to gently catch Kasumi before the Warrior of Light could fall too far. Not something he would have ordinarily even thought of doing, but even as powered up as he was, there was no way he would have been able to make it all the way back across the battlefield in time… to… catch…

D'Oh!

Of course he could have got there in time! He currently had full access to Sparky's speed!

Speaking of which, he had been ignoring other abilities in favor of direct attacks in an effort to focus all enemy attention on him and him alone, but that plan wasn't going to work now with Sunshine's display.

He was rather curious as to how the dusky skinned girl had managed to tap so deeply into her brand new reserves on the first try. Particularly since he could tell that her power set was _supposed_ to be primarily healing and support rather than for direct combat. At least until her reserves grew some more.

At the moment, he was near the remnants of the valiant school kendo club, where they had been attempting to mount a rescue of their captured schoolmates. Several of them were now deeply injured and possibly dying, paying a stiff price for their valor. Of those who had managed to hold their own bearing only wooden practice swords against live steel, only two were still struggling to continue on towards their goal, barely staying on their feet as their opponents scrambled away from the smoking hole in the ground where their quartermaster and a few of his goons had been…

O O O

Kuno forced himself to stay on his feet as he stumbled into the area where the demons had taken the captured students and teachers.

One student, a boy whose name he did not even know, was well beyond saving, having been carved up into so many pieces of meat.

Mr. Ukojo was hardly much better off, as the villains had been slicing strips off of each of his legs, and his left arm was broken, but the man was still breathing. Personally, Tatewaki had not particularly liked the man, as he was one of the few teachers in Furinkan High who ignored his noble status, and whom he viewed as a feeble and embittered old man.

A view he could hold no longer, having born witness to the elder teacher's incredible act of courage when the man had placed himself between the invaders and a set of the school doors, armed only with his ever present ruler.

Kuno looked around briefly, and placed said broken instrument in the fading educator's remaining hand.

"Rest well, Mr, Ukojo. You will be remembered."

O O O

Mr. Ukojo could barely hear whatever the rambling Kuno boy was going on about. Too bad too, because it seemed that it might actually be respectful for once. Still, he could tell that his time had come, as his pain was receding with the presence of a soft and beautiful light.

Oh, goody! With death, he got his arm and legs back. That was nice.

And his feet too, which was odd, as he had thought that ghosts didn't have feet.

"Wait… what?" The man sputtered in confusion at the shocked expression on the Kuno boy's face.

"You live!" the young kendo club captain exclaimed, before turning towards another boy. An unfamiliar boy wearing some sort of glorified wrestling outfit with a combined fire and water motif and gods-awful blue dyed hair.

A boy who was the most obvious source of the healing radiance, as it was coming from the lads hands.

Which Mr. Ukojo promptly swatted with his broken ruler! "Stop wasting your abilities on an old man like me! I'm well enough to get medical care now, so help the students! They're more important than a crotchety old man like me!"

"It wasn't like I was only healing _you_, ya old coot!" the boy grumbled in part irritation and part good humor. "I ain't got time to argue with ya anyway. Those youma are gonna rally soon, and I need everyone who can't fight out of here, and those who can fight defending them."

"My sword is yours, my Liege," The Kuno boy knelt before the punk with the ridiculously blue hair, proffering his bokken as a Samurai might present his katana when swearing fealty. Which, Mr. Ukojo supposed, he just had.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the blue haired kid responded. "You'll need something better than that stick though." With that, he placed a hand on the thick, rounded blade of the wooden sword, and in mere seconds it became a blade in truth, compressing into the proportions of a regular katana…

O O O

Akane huffed from where she was, floating in an endless ruby hued sky.

While she couldn't really see what was going on, she could still hear well enough.

And she still had a sense of touch, somehow still connecting her with her empty skin. Which was both creepy and a bit aggravating, considering that it was being trampled repeatedly, and had been riddled with some sort of pin-pricks earlier. However, like the odd and personally horrifying experience of being flattened in the first place, neither event was truly painful. Just rather uncomfortable and a bit distracting now that there was a lull in the battle.

Trying to keep her mind off of the phantom sensations, the disembodied Warrior of Fire decided to look around her crimson prison.

Huh…

Okay, why hadn't the rings of figures appeared _before_ she looked around?

Ooh! They were all her! Or she at least assumed that they were. Granted, there was one large and serpentine silhouette of a Shen Lung dragon, but it had what appeared to be her hairstyle, at least in profile, so it might also be her. And some seemed to be items of some sort.

Curious, she drifted over and looked at some of the silhouettes depicting weapons and items. There were an assortment of blades, pole arms, and blunt instruments, all of which being fairly generic as they could only be viewed in profile. However, the outlines of many of the apparently non-combat items included details that strongly suggested portions of her naked body had been included. One of which was a wine glass with the stem being her nude body leaning slightly forward, carrying the cone-shaped cup bowl on her back…

Eye's twitching, the flustered spirit turned way from the 'items' and toward the more human figures.

Three of which were 'unlocked', and she could clearly make out their details.

The first one was a nude version of her normal body, who grinned at her in embarrassment, trying to cover herself with her hands.

The next was her Fire Senshi form, who struck several sentai poses before giving her a wink and a thumbs up.

The third was wearing matching tiger skin boots and bracers. A tiger hide miniskirt, barely large enough to cover anything at all, was draped across her hips and tied on the left. Another swatch of tiger fur was draped across her shoulders as a mantle, and a tiger-striped headband studded with a pair of tiny horns completed the set. As Akane took all of this in, the figure started experimentally swinging a giant wooden mallet with an air of aggressive confidence.

The motions making it abundantly clear that the tiger skin garbed warrior was wearing nothing at all beneath the short cape, and most likely wasn't wearing anything underneath the skirt either…

Honestly, she had no idea this Zeus guy was, but if she ever met him, she was going to have some serious words about how he dressed the warriors of his order!

O O O

R'hul directed one of his minions to aid him as the rest hastily gathered what little resources their master had accumulated. One did not survive long as an incursion scout without knowing when to abandon a lair and seek out a new bolt hole to bunker down for a while.

And this situation just _reeked_ of the potential for the wrath of heroes tracking him down.

Despite some initial success in springing the trap laid out for the two known element focused magical defenders, with a backup plan if the other two expected champions showed up, the plan went immediately downhill when all three of his on location minions were neutralized before even a third of T'rikkis' raiding company had been summoned. One of which by Inferno, but the other two by two other local heroes with no apparent affiliation to the expected elements of Earth and Air.

Granted, the witch with the wand was easily neutralized and captured in turn, but the other one proved to be elusive even before her empowerment.

And R'hul simply could not believe how T'rikkis had missed spotting that power-stone rolling away from the Water Warrior when the trap was sprung! It just boggled his comprehension how the raiding company leader could fail to see something that obvious until the ribbon wielding female reached for it herself.

It just had to be protected with all kinds of enchantments for that to have happened, as T'rikkis wasn't some neophyte raider on it's first mission.

What had happened next was eye opening, when the new warrior's empowerment cycle proved to be neither brief nor vulnerable. In fact, T'rikkis was very lucky that the Fire and Water champions hadn't done anything similar, or he'd be even more injured than he currently was.

And then the Guardian had arrived. Not as a cute, fuzzy, and potentially tasty mascot, but as some bastardized blue hybrid between a smilodon and a great ape easily as massive as any of the minotaurs T'rikkis had brought along. Not that this R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi, as the Guardian had named himself, had stayed that way for very long.

And R'hul honestly couldn't say whether that was a good thing or not, considering that even as a physically weaker human, the Guardian was proving to be an inordinately capable individual.

R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi's ties to the females were quite obvious, as his garb reflected that of the females under his charge. His ability to use the unrefined soul-stones of two of his charges without any preparation whatsoever was another clue to this effect, but the biggest piece of evidence was his use of each of his charges individual powers sets.

Still, regardless of how powerful R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi may prove to be, his apparent link to the power-stone just may prove to be an exploitable flaw. Destroy the stone and R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi would most likely be destroyed as well.

Which, of course, was never quite as simple as initially apparent. The fact that T'rikkis failed to even notice the gemstone lens until a local had drawn attention to it, and the fact that R'hul himself only remembered having seen the event only after it had taken place, spoke of very impressive defensive enchantments. Chances were that it would take a local female to be able to target the stone and destroy it.

It did fit the pattern of such things after all, even if R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi's ability to use opposition elements simultaneously was unusual to say the least.

Now, if only he'd been able to see what element the latest female champion had drawn.

Unfortunately, her empowerment apparently came with a powerful anti-scry effect, as evidenced by the still smoldering ruins of the mirror that R'hul had been using to watch the battle.

Half molten shards that remained in a now abandoned house…

O O O

Atsuko glanced back at the two teenagers in the back of their mobile news 'van' as the massive armored personnel carrier rumbled away from the long horned youma chasing it. "Shouldn't we be stopping them?" she asked quietly, as the kids were now only half dressed and engaging in a heavy make-out session.

"Ah, let them have their fun," Hikaru, her cameraman replied. "It's not like they're actually having sex yet."

"And the keyword there is 'yet'," the reporter pointed out. "Now, what are you going to do about it?"

"Okay…"

SLAP!!

"I didn't mean _film_ them, you pervert!" Atsuko yelled at her cameraman as he rubbed his cheek where she had struck him.

"Okay! Okay! Sheesh! What a grouch!" Hikaru set aside his camera and made his way to the back of the APC where the kids where rabidly approaching happy rabbit land. "Hey kids."

Only the boy paused, looking flustered and embarrassed. The girl continued to try undressing both him and herself at the same time.

"Heh. Them's the breaks, Hero," Hikaru chided the boy, tossing him something. "Here, you better use this." He tossed the kids a packet of condoms.

And then scrambled to catch his camera as his partner threw it at him! "Hey! Watch it! This is expensive!"

"Stop encouraging them!"

O O O

T'rikkis was upset, but it knew when to cut it's losses and retreat.

Sacrificing the majority of his remaining raiding party in order to do so hurt, at least in the sense of any unpleasant unit expenditure, but it was better that it managed to escape so that a full record of the battle could be delivered and analyzed . R'ahnmasa'oh'tomi had to be neutralized somehow, and T'rikkis didn't have the means to do so on the spot.

Ducking around a corner, T'rikkis was very surprised to come face to face with the blue haired Guardian.

A moment later, the upper half of the C'thhulhoid slid down a diagonal cut that had suddenly appeared on it's torso, from left shoulder to right hip.

O O O

Ranma Saotome dismissed the flaming ice katana as he returned to the front yard of the school. That was one squidface. Four more to go, and five or six hornheads, then the battle was over.

Hmm... Maybe he could wrap things up faster if he could figure out which one was the leader and take it out...

**END CHAPTER EIGHTEEN **

**OMAKE THEATER PRESENTS: **_Stop! Hammer time…_

Eye's twitching, the flustered spirit turned way from the 'items' and toward the more human figures.

Three of which were 'unlocked', and she could clearly make out their details.

The first one was a nude version of her normal body, who grinned at her in embarrassment, trying to cover herself with her hands.

The next was her Fire Senshi form, who struck several sentai poses before giving her a wink and a thumbs up.

The third was wearing tiger skin boots, a matching skirt and mantle, and a tiger-striped headband with tiny horns, while experimentally swinging a giant wooden mallet with an air of aggressive confidence.

The motions making it abundantly clear that the tiger skin garbed warrior was wearing nothing at all beneath the short cape, and most likely wasn't wearing anything underneath the skirt either…

Honestly, she had no idea this Zeus guy was, but if she ever met him, she was going to have some serious words…

Forget the outfit or the lack of either a bra or panties…

The real travesty was that the giant mallet wasn't nearly big enough!


End file.
